After All Our Nightmares
by KColl2003
Summary: When the world ends, how can one save it?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Inspired by I Am Legend, Jeremiah, Resident Evil, and Jericho, here's my post apocalyptic tale……

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**After All Our Nightmares (1/?) **

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"Why are we doing this again?"

"We're doing this 'cause Angel reckons Marvin Barnes is a collector of occult and rare texts who has or probably had the best collection of apocalyptic prophecy in the world," Faith retorted.

"Great," her companion grunted as they crept through the darkened corridor, dust scuffling in their wake. "So why are we in this goddamn hospital?"

Faith raised an eyebrow at Xander's continued grumbling. "'Cause Fang's broken int all three of Barnes' mansions on this continent and found zip. He figures Barnes to have been a pretty ruthless bastard who only donated to one charity, this hospital, the one nearest to his primary home. So he figures all this money Barnes pumped into this hospital gave him certain privileges including maybe a hiding place."

"As usual what Deadboy thinks we have to follow up."

"That ain't fair," Faith stopped and peeked her head around a corner. "'Tain't like the others aren't here too."

"Whatever," Xander grunted. There was a dangerous edge to her man that hadn't been there before the disaster. But then the last three years had changed them all and rarely for the better. "Just let's get it over with."

Faith carried on, keeping to the shadows. Just five years ago, just after her break-out and the Mass Calling, she'd been on top of the world, scared yet exhilarated by her freedom. 'Course it hadn't taken long for her life to go down the crapper, firstly with Wood sticking his tool into a gal Watcher five months into their relationship. She'd been resting in England and waiting for Giles to sort out the legal problems caused by the two weeks' hospital stay she'd given Wood as a leaving gift when Xander had returned from nine months in Africa.

Xand had warned everyone who came within earshot about what the African Shamen had said about the impending world ending. 'Course Harris being Harris no-body important had cared to listen, both Buffy and Red being smugly secure in the Slayer army, and G as always following their lead.

Looking back at it that way, it was little wonder Xand was permanently pissed these days.

Not that she was complain', well not about Xand's return least ways. It had given her a chance to apologise and them to bond and help Dana. And the bonding, Faith half-smiled, well that had led to other fun things.

Then Angel had sent Los Angeles straight to hell before escaping to join Lockley in San Diego. That was the point where things had really started going downhill.

Demon attacks began increasing despite the Slayer army's best efforts. Not only that, freak weather had increased too, blizzards in Texas, long dormant volcanoes erupting, torrential downpour in the Sahara, that sorta thing. Then, after a year of terror and uncertainty where almost the entire world became dimly aware that something was badly wrong, on the second anniversary of the Mass Calling the dormant hellmouths across the world simultaneously opened, unleashing demonic hordes upon the world.

They'd been relatively lucky under the circumstances. She'd dragged Xan and Dana to San Diego so she could show her saviour the girl she'd helped save. Kinda like a puppy lookin' for approval, but anyhow bein' out of the UK and nowhere near a hellmouth had saved them all. Billions though hadn't been so lucky.

The populations of over a hundred cities sitting on previously dormant hellmouths had been completely annihilated. The world's greatest mages – Strange, Hellstorm, the Halliwells, and Rosenberg had all been driven loco by the magical corruption, leaving only the minor witches behind. In her rampage Willow has destroyed the Council, killing G, Wes' dad, Summers, all the UK-based Slayers, some twenty of them, and according to legend had spent a month torturing Dawn, trying to force her to turn back into the key so she could use her as magical energy.

When Xan had heard that, she'd had to tie him down for a few days And not in the fun way.

Over the last three years the world had degenerated into a primeval wasteland. Surprisingly Wolfram & Hart had been first to go, submerged in an avalanche of demons determined not to bow to the old powers. Next had been the world powers, leaving global and national communication systems devastated. Even the global economy system had been replaced by a barter system – food, fuel, and weapons bringing the most. Lawlessness now ruled, with only the rumours of a few champions remaining.

Theirs was such a group, patrolling the west coast. For the year before the fall, Angel had been working with Lockley's team of Kate, Pike, the Groosaluug, Gwen Raiden, all ironically tracked down and financed using Wolfram & Hart resources, assisted by Illyria and Connor. When the fall had come they'd joined forces and carved a legend, but a legend not without losses – Dana, Raiden, and Pike all dying.

Faith guessed that another loss had been the 'Xanderness' of her lover. When he'd returned from Africa, Xander had lost a heck of a lot of the booze-weight that had accumulated over the years. Add a tan and the eye-patch, and he'd looked wicked hot. Three years of training with her, Groo, and Connor had turned Harris into a bitching fighter the equal of any pre-fall MMA star.

Still, there wasn't much she wouldn't give to soften some of the hard edges on Xander. 'Tho in this bright new world, people without hard edges either died or got trampled on. And in this bleak new world there were plenty eager to do the killing and trampling.

"Listen hon," Faith used some more of the seemingly never ending patience she needed to deal with Xand these days, "Angel figures there might be something in Barnes' collection that'll help us fight this apocalypse. Maybe even close the hellmouths. That's gotta be worth at least tryin'."

"Too late for Buff and the others."

Faith arched an eyebrow as they entered a darkened ward. "And on that sunny note," she muttered.

Faith fought back a shudder as she gazed around the shadowy six-bed bay. She'd seen some bad shit in her time, but this was pretty close to the worst.

Once The Shared Heart hospital had been one of the plushest facilities in the state. Now though, dried feces and urine stained the sheets and half eaten skeletons filled the beds, the tell-tale scurrying of rats to be heard all around. This hospital hadn't cared for anyone for a long time, the only remaining question was was anyone using it as a hideout or home.

Faith nodded towards her honey. Xander nodded back, shotgun sweeping in a semi-circle as they sneaked to the end of the bay. "You know, I'd figure this searching for hidden passageways would be more Indiana Jones and less Friday The 13th,"

Faith barked a tremulous laugh at what passed for Harris humour these days. "Eight of us searchin' an entire hospital ain't gonna work is it?" Faith queried. "Not in one night."

"If there's even anything to find," Xander grunted. "We can't even pick up some side bonuses of medical supplies, anything that's easily transportable has long since been taken."

"Yeah," Faith agreed as her fingers danced over the bay's far wall before shaking her head. "Damn, nothing here. It's solid."

"It doesn't make sense anyway." Xander commented. Faith looked towards her boyfriend for clarification. "If I was an eccentric billionaire looking to build a secret passage or hideaway it wouldn't be somewhere where's there's going to be a steady influx of people."

"Yeah," Faith nodded, a cat-like smirk stretching across her face as an idea began to flicker into life. "Damn good point. Somewhere private, hell." She grinned as the idea coalesced. "Hell, somewhere people don't wanna go, like the morgue."

"Yeah," Xander nodded. "Makes sense."

They were soon creeping down a dark stairwell, the air dusty and arid to breathe. "Fuck," Faith cursed as they reached the basement level, a long pitch-black corridor stretching out before them. "I hate morgues."

"They don't bother me, I always liked Tru Calling," Xander mused. "In fact I think its cancellation was one of the signs of apocalypse."

"Liked Tru Calling" Faith snorted as they edged through the passageway, one at either side, clinging to its dirty walls. "Liked looking at the lead's tits more like."

"Well," Xander shrugged as they reached the morgue double doors and peered through its shattered glass windows, "that too."

Faith chuckled as she shone her torchlight into the room. "It was better than most of the crap you watch." Faith glanced towards her man. "How do you figure to do this?"

Xander scowled. "I'll check the morgue cabinets. You do the rest."

"Five by five," Faith swallowed as she eased the door open and started through. She started in the inner office, shoving over filing cabinets and checking the walls for any hollowness. When that didn't work, she started in the examination room, studiously avoiding the autopsy tables set in the room's centre.

Her heart dropped when she checked the last tile floor and wall space. "Fuck." Faith snarled before turning to Xander stood in the doorway. "Anything?" Her heart dropped when Xander shook his head. She'd been so sure. "FUCK!" Her temper exploded and foot swung out, clanging against the central autopsy table's steel side.

Her brow furrowed when the table echoed. "Motherfucker!" she exulted. "The table's hollow Xan!" Faith grinned at her boy-friend. "It must be under here!"

"Maybe," Xander looked at the thick screws securing the autopsy table to its supports and the floor. "One thing though, we'll need the smurf's strength to pull the table off."

"Yeah," Faith sobered. "I'll get on the radio to Fang."

By the time Angel and Illyria made their way into the morgue room, Connor, Kate, and Groo had already arrived, the air in the darkened room thick with anticipation. "It's in there," Faith kicked one of the table's sides. "'Least-ways I think so."

"It's certainly hollow." Angel smirked at the Slayer. The coal-eyed brunette was practically giddy. Since the fall, Faith had become his lieutenant, filling a role left vacant by Wesley, hotter but without the book smarts. " Illyria?"

The imperious Old One stepped forward, grabbed two handfuls of the table, and ripped it away, floor screws popping out. Xander peered down into the hole left by Illyria's imposing display. "There's steps," the former Sunnydaler reported.

"Right." Angel hid his unease around Xander by glancing down into the hole. Once the Sunnydaler had an exterior of jokes and inappropriate remarks that had concealed his huge heart and implacable will. Now it seemed the exterior and heart had been burnt away, leaving nothing behind but the will. He sometimes wondered if Faith realised that.

But if the boy ever hurt her, then he'd answer to him.

Shoving aside that worry as for another day, he climbed into the hole and looked up. " Conn, Faith, Illyria, and Kate stay up here, Xander and Groo come down with me."

Xander raised an eyebrow before climbing into the hole. "Aye, aye skipper."

Angel ignored Xander, choosing instead to lead his companions down the dark stairs. At the bottom they were confronted by a steel grille with a useless key-pad in the left wall. "Can you-."

"Yeah," Angel nodded at Xander's question. Even without the others' torchlight he would have been able to see the vast room beyond, filled with case upon case of books. The answers he searched for had to be there.

Eyes remaining fixed on the prize beyond, Angel grabbed two bars and tugged. At first nothing but muscle strain occurred, his arms and shoulders burning. "Grrr," Angel growled as he vamped out, feeding into his inner-demon for the power needed to complete his task. Then slowly at first, oh so slowly, the bars began to creak and pull away.

Finally he stepped back, the central bars now bent away from each other. "We should be able to get through here."

"Not much in the way of security," Xander commented as he slid sideways through the bars.

"Barnes probably relied on secrecy rather than security," Angel replied before glancing over his shoulder. "If you see anything related to post-apocalyptic literature, shout out."

"Sure," Xander replied. "If you see anything relating to military history or tactics do the same."

Angel nodded as he began to search. That was something else new about Xander. The Xander he remembered had to be dragged to a book, ironic considering the time he spent in a library, but this Xander never stopped reading, but only of military books or martial arts manuals, anything he thought might make him a better fighter. A better killer.

"I believe I have found the books oh fellow champion."

At least Groo never changed. "You have?" In a second he was by Groo's side, rummaging through the selection. "Got that. That too. Read that. Haven't seen that though. Got that. Haven't got that, but he's a hack. Got that. Haven't read that. Got that." Angel stared down at the pair of thin volumes, hope briefly flaring in his undead heart. Maybe somewhere in their pages would be a way out of this mess for everyone.

Fighting back his curiosity, Angel looked towards Xander. "Find anything interesting?"

"A translation of a book on the ninja by a 12th century historian," Xander replied before glancing his way. "Are we ready to go?"

After a second Angel nodded. "We're ready."

The two black-tinted vans they'd acquired six months ago were still where they'd left them, parked in the long-since gone wild woods to the right of the hospital's main building. The moment her van's rear doors slammed shut, Faith started the engine.

She was soon motoring back to their base. Her eyes were constantly moving, searching the darkened streets for any sign of trouble. During the journey she saw burnt-out and turned over cars, corpses, skeletons, and refuse littering the ground, ruined buildings, and flickering distant fires.

Thankfully though they didn't encounter any trouble and they were soon pulling into home base, the sixth they'd had in the past three years. This time it was an underground garage by a sewer grille that led to their real base, a secret compound within the sewer itself.

Faith winced as she pulled the sewer entrance shut behind them. Their hiding place was well-hidden, but man it stunk. The base wasn't exactly filled with luxuries either. A few mattresses, a curtain separating the dressing areas, and a couple of arm chairs and a sofa was all the creature comforts they had.

Which was still a hell of a lot more than most.

Angel immediately dropped into the least threadbare of the armchairs and began reading. After a few minutes the vampire snarled and flung one of the books away. "That's a harsh review," Connor snarked.

Angel glanced at his son, a half-smile tugging on his lips. "The writer's a hack, copying from half a dozen different texts, there's nothing new." Faith's mentor picked up the second book and began to read. What little colour the vampire had drained from him. "Oh no."

"What's the sitch?" Faith half-rose from her seat.

"According to this book," Angel half-shook his head. "Yang-Fut's Apocalyptic Prophecy, we caused all this."


	2. Chapter 2

**FIC: After All Our Nightmares (2/?)**

It might have surprised the others, but Xander wasn't exactly stunned to find Fang was behind all this. "Wanna elaborate?" he challenged.

Faith tried to hush him with a glare, but he ignored the Slayer in favour of staring accusingly at Angel. The vampire stared back at him, his pained expression disappearing to be replaced by his customary impassiveness. "And lo, in the year 1998, One-Eye," Xander's heart dropped, One-Eye, that was people called him now, "shall split the Slayer Line and make The Chosen One, Two." Angel glanced towards Faith. "And then in the third millennium Orisus shall be called upon to resurrect The One, bringing chaos to The Other Realms, and weakening Hell's Seals." Xander groaned, hadn't they suffered enough for that screw-up? "And the Seer," Angel sucked in an unneeded breath before continuing, "will be corrupted by a higher power. And The Chosen Two shall face The First, the bars of her prison weakened by The One's resurrection, turning the Two into The Many, upsetting the balance." Angel paused again, if he'd been human Xander would have sworn he was struggling for breath, but that was ridiculous. "Then the Dark Man's," that was how Angel was now known, "Lightness will be infected by an Old One," Angel glanced towards Illyria then back at the book's yellowed pages, "and he will kill the Guardian, cracking the Deeper Well, and Hell shall be Unleashed."

A long silence followed Angel's concluding words. "I heard a theory once from an occultist I traded with." Everyone turned to Faith. "Dude was real knowledgeable about shit." His girl-friend smiled crookedly. "'Course he didn't know who I was, just figured I was some babe he could impress with his know-how. Boy knew all about the Slayer Split, Glory, the First, Jasmine, Illyria, and Drogyn's death. Anyhow, this dude figured that Glory, the First, Jasmine, and Illyria weren't meant to be able to cross into this dimension. And every time a being of their power entered our dimension it tore the walls a little."

"Everything we did," Xander shook his head in dismay, guilt twisting his insides, "it led to this."

"Then maybe," the determined note in Angel's voice compelled him to look up, "we need to put things right."

"What are you suggesting?" Kate demanded a second before he could. There was a weird vibe between the cop and the vampire like they were former rivals who were now allies but wanted more. But that was their history and he didn't care-over-much.

"This book," Angel flipped through the text's pages, dark eyes scanning the words before discarding it and moving on, "was written in the twelfth century. Eight hundred years ago, yet it predicts Xander saving Buffy, Cordy being possessed, the Mass Calling, and lots of other things too." Angel paused his reading to look around. "If a book this old can be this accurate about recent history, maybe we should see if it says anything about saving what's left."

"That's thin dad," Connor said.

"What else do we have?" Xander surprised himself by agreeing with the vampire, but hey when you're right you're right. "The last three years we've saved people again and again, but we've been doing it piecemeal. We haven't made a real difference, but maybe we could."

"What does the book say, Fang?" Faith prompted. Xander resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 'Course Faith would follow her hero's lead as surely as night followed day.

Angel looked down at the book, skipping through the pages until he reached the end. "Here it is." Xander was surprised by a sudden hitch in the vampire's voice. "On the night of the Unleashing, three shall be born. One in the Wood Of Tinsel."

"LA," Kate translated for the room's retarded. So, just Deadboy

"The second in Little Havana and the third in the land of the lady regent. And the children shall all be king in name."

"So LA, Miami, and I'm guessing Queens, New York," Faith nodded. "But what's that crap about kings?"

"My guess would be either their Christian or surnames means king or monarch," Kate supplied.

Angel nodded before continuing. "And then they shall be taken to the Arc's Core where they close the doors that should never have been opened." Angel shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe it does," Xander declared. He smiled when everyone looked towards him, briefly enjoying their puzzlement before continuing. "In some of the conspiracy books I've read there's mention of a top-secret bunker called the Arc where the powerful and elite would retreat to in case of invasion or nuclear war. We've all heard the rumours of a government, maybe they're more than a rumour."

"Okay," Angel looked more than a little sceptical. But for once Xander could hardly blame them. "So where is this Arc?"

Xander shot the Irish undead an irritated look. "Did you miss the part where I mentioned it was top-secret?"

The vampire matched his glower with one of his own. "Then how are we supposed to find it?"

"I'll need a lap-top but maybe I can hack into one of the background systems," Connor offered.

"I can't believe you're considering this!!" Kate suddenly protested. The blonde cop shook her head. "Crossing the country these days with The Crusade, The Carrion, and The Believers roaming it! Not to mention New York and LA are both Undead Houses."

Xander chuckled dryly. "Have we got anything better to do?"

"I little enjoying sulking in the shadows, it is time that the world shook before me again!"

"See," Xander nodded. "Illyria agrees with me."

* * *

Angel rose. "We have enough fuel to get to LA.," he announced. "I suggest we pack everything we can find into them and leave at day-break."

Faith looked up. "That'd be radios, weapons, energy sources, fuel, that sorta thing?"

Angel nodded. "Faith and Xander, you make a sweep of the sports utility and gun stores. I'll take Illyria for a search for any petrol. Kate," Angel looked towards the blonde cop, "you take Conn and Groo in a search of near-by houses."

* * *

"I love it how Fang orders and we all jump."

Faith shook her head. "Just quit it already," she muttered. The hell of it was if there was anybody else leading the team, Xander would almost certainly agree with their decisions. "Ya know Fang's got more experience than the rest of us."

"I know," Xander fell moodily silent.

Faith resisted the temptation to shake her head as she strode through the city's streets. All around were the signs of Armageddon – torn-down road signs, burnt out and turned over cars, years old refuse, and overgrown plant-life. And of course the skeletons, there were plenty of them too.

Faith stopped as she reached a looming building that in better days had been one of those nameless chains of department stores. "Might be a sports department in there?"

Xander glanced at the grimly dark building, the lights of its neon sign having long since been extinguished. "Okay," her boy-friend scowled. "I just bet its on the top floor."

Faith snorted as she stepped through the shattered doors, its glass tinkling underfoot. "Try to find the camping department." Faith glanced over her shoulder, confused by Xander's comment. "Our rucksacks are getting worn out and we could always do with new."

Faith nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "It'll probably be next to the sports goods department."

Xander nodded as he cast her torchlight apart and whistled. "When they stripped this place they really stripped it."

Faith nodded. The shelves and counters were empty of food, drink, and every sort of produce, the only thing accumulating on the shelves and counters was dust. "We should head for the back, the stairwell will be there."

"Been in one of these places before, Faith," Xander replied as he sneaked along behind her. "Be careful, sometimes gangs make their homes here."

"I ain't 'xactly a novice either," Faith retorted as she stepped over a flung to the ground display stand, "Jesus," she grunted, the store's silence lying heavy on her, "I never thought I'd miss piped music."

"Yeah wait-," Xander's torchlight swung to the left. "I thought I saw something, but there's nothing there. Come on."

"Here's the door." Faith shoved the door open, wincing slightly at the stale air.

"And here's the sign," Xander groaned as he examined the wall by the stairwell. "And I was right, the sports & camping department are both on the top floor."

Faith smirked. "Better get movin' babe."

Faith's heart dropped when they entered the sports department. Like the food department the sports store had been looted. Not to the extent of downstairs of course, not many people played sports these days.

Pool tables lay everywhere, uniforms of perhaps half a dozen differing sports slashed to shreds together with sneakers and bags. The fitness equipment had likewise been smashed – treadmills, rowing machines, steppers, and exercise bikes wrecked in an orgy of violence.

Faith glanced to Xander. "Check around."

"Yeah, 'cause I've never done this before."

Faith shone her torch around, sighing slightly at the carnage. Scavenging only got harder as the years went by. "Here's a thought," Xander commented. "Have you tried barbells?"

Faith looked over her shoulder. "Mystical warrior remember? I don't need to train for strength just fighting."

"That's my point," Xander retorted. "Don't you think they'd be more effective than wooden staffs?"

Faith's brow furrowed. "Yeah, you've got a point," she decided. "Grab a couple of barbells. It's worth trying."

"Okay," Xander huffed as he lifted them. "You'll have to carry them all the way back."

"Five by five," Faith nodded. Her eyes narrowed as she noted a dartboard and a few sealed packets of darts lying against the wall. She dropped into a crouch and scooped the packets up. "Do ya figure these could make a decent weapon?"

Xander chuckled as he shone his torch towards her. "Try sticking one in your hand and then ask me. Anything in the way of guns or crossbows?"

"Saw an empty case where they'd hung the crossbows but nothing else."

"Let's try behind the counter," Xander walked over to her side, his rucksack noticeably fuller than before. Xander half-smiled as he noticed her curious look. "I took twenty dumbbell handles. If I manage to find the right equipment I'll have a go turning them into knives."

"Nice idea," Faith praised as she made her way to the back. Truth be told, Xand's general skills as a handyman had come in very handy in a variety of ways since the fall. It wasn't like ya could use yellow pages these days.

As expected the counter's shelves were empty of anything useful.

"What about that?" Xander pointed towards the light grey safe on the bottom shelf. "There might be something in there."

"Money ain't worth shit these days," she reminded as she crouched and took the safe's steel cold handle and forced it up. Muscles writhed and sweat beaded on her forehead as the lock struggled against her Slayer strength. She gasped as the door finally swung open.

"Well done," Xander praised as he flashed his torchlight inside. "Bingo." Her boyfriend pulled out the safe's top shelf, scooping up the automatic and five magazines inside. "A Colt 911A and five magazines. This definitely makes the trip worthwhile."

"Ha!" Faith chuckled. "And I thought having some alone time with your gal would make it worthwhile."

Xander almost smiled. "I'm not getting drawn into this one." Her boy-friend began to straighten.

Faith gasped when her companion suddenly left his feet and flew sideways through the air, crashing to the ground ten feet away. "What the fuck!" the Slayer part of her took over even as shock ran through her. Jumping up onto the counter, she spun into a leaping kick at her assailant.

"Fuck!" Faith screamed as a hard hand grabbed her ankle and flung her into the wall. "Oh shit!" She grunted as she crashed shoulder-first into the wall.

Faith landed in a crouch. "Fuck!" her eyes widened as they fell onto her assailant. He was an easy seven foot tall with the clothes-stretching bulk to match, at least five hundred hard pounds of it. His hands were shovel-sized and although he wore a full-length leather jacket it did little to conceal his arms' bulging thickness, bigger than most men's legs, tree-trunk thighs, the barn-door width of his shoulders, and depth of his thick chest.

Starred tattoos adorned the sides of her attacker's column-thick neck while his face itself was box-square, an ugly scar ran down the left side of his face, making his corpulent-lipped mouth droop slightly, another scar ran across his forehead, and another ran under his right eye. The man's nose was splattered against his face and she'd seen more expression in stone than she saw in his grey eyes.

"You're purty."

Faith licked her lips at the man's tombstone voice. "Kinda statin' the obvious ain't ya?" she blustered, a deep unease hollowing her belly.

"You're mine!" Suddenly the behemoth was charging her at an uncanny speed for such a gargantuan. Faith barely managed to duck under a right cross, her hands shooting up to grab and twist the man's wrist as she executed a judo throw.

"Jesus!" she gasped when then the fucker didn't even budge, the pressure on his wrist seemingly having no effect. Then her head exploded when the man's left palm crashed into it.

Dazed, she nevertheless had enough left to kick out instinctively, a thrust kick catching the giant in his prodigious belly. The man grunted but didn't otherwise react, grabbing her around the throat. "You're strong," the man matter-of-factedly commented, "I like that."

Faith gurgled as the man's sausage-sized fingers dug into her throat. The leviathan's power was awesome, enough to snap a normal neck in seconds.

Fortunately she was about as far from normal as you could get. Faith brought her leg up and stomped down on her assailant's inner knee. Her eyes widened when the man appeared not to even notice her counter-attack.

Desperation gripping her and vision blurring, she swung both legs up behind her, bending them at the knee. The moment her feet touched the wall behind, she kicked off.

Her attacker stumbled backwards, grip loosening as she drove her forearm into his throat. At the same time she brought a knee up into his gut.

The gigantic man dropped her with a grunt. Faith wheezed for air as she blocked a left hook on her forearm, the blow's concussive force running up her arm. She glided under a follow-up forearm that would have rendered her face flatter than a pancake before grabbing the freakishly strong man under his chin and flinging him into the air, the man flying through the stairwell entrance, the force of his entrance taking the doorway with him.

Faith dropped to one knee, legs buckling under her. She raised a shaking hand to her injured throat, rubbing at it before rising, snatching one of the barbells Xander had brought across and hurrying through the stairwell. "Shit." Her tortured breath hitched and eyes widened when against all expectations her attacker was gone. "How in the hell-."

Shaking off her shock, she hurried back to Xander and started to help him up. "What demon hit me?" Xander groaned, his eyes glassy.

"Weren't a demon, lover." Faith shot fearful glances into the surrounding darkness. That was the whack thing, only Buffy, the Beast, and Illyria had hit harder than that monster and yet he was completely human. Fuck it. "Let's get outta here."


	3. Chapter 3

**After All Our Nightmares (3/?)**

Connor looked up to the ceiling of their hideaway. "Faith's coming."

Angel hid a half-grimace\half-grin as he noted the undercurrent of excitement in his son's voice. Civilisations came and went, but Faith's effect on a male's hormones remained the same. Namely she sent them into overdrive. "I assume Xander's with her?" he chuckled at his son's slightly chagrined expression.

Seconds later and the question was answered when the door to their hideout swung open to reveal an unusually agitated-looking Faith carrying in a pair of rucksacks and two barbells while also supporting a dazed-looking Xander. "What happened?" Angel asked as Connor took Faith's bags and Groo solicitously helped Xander to the armchair.

The smile Faith shot him lacked much of her usual bravado. Instead it was wavering and a little wild. "We got attacked by King Kong, I mean this huge fucker, had to be seven foot tall and five hundred pounds easy, guy was strong even for his size. He was human but I couldn't hurt him."

Kate's head snapped from inspecting the egg-sized swelling on Xander' face to the sultry Slayer. Angel's eyes widened imperceptibly when the former cop gently took the beautiful brunette by her elbow and led her to the sofa. "What did he look like, Faith?"

Once again Angel was shocked by the tenderness in the cop's voice. Faith's long eyelashes fluttered in rare uncertainty. Then the brunette spoke. "Like I was said, he was freakin' huge. He was bald with scars all over his face, including one that made the left side of his mouth droop, and he had starred tattoos on his neck."

"You have a good eye," Kate praised before looking up at him and then looking towards the furthest corner. Taking the hint, Angel stalked over to the corner where Kate joined him. "We need to get out of here, now."

Angel's eyes narrowed at the fear in the blonde's voice. "Who is this man?"

"I'll explain while we pack, she's in real danger, so is anyone who gets in his way." Angel raised an inquiring eyebrow and waited. "Fine," the cop sighed. "In late '99 through to late '01, seven black-eyed brunette show-girls in Vegas were murdered. Several of them could have been sisters to Faith. The girls were tortured, raped, their throats crushed, and dismembered. By the time news of the first murder hit, I knew about vampires so I kept an eye on the cases."

"But it wasn't a vampire."

"No," Kate shook her head. "I only wish it was. Turned out it was Dalton 'Looming' Towers, a Judo black belt and high school state wrestling champion, and local bouncer. He had a reputation at all the clubs and casinos he bounced at, so when they went to arrest him, the police went in heavy, twenty veteran officers in riot gear." Kate shook her head. "I've read the arrest reports. He killed three officers, and put five in the hospital, two crippled for life. While he was in jail, a number of doctors ran tests on him, and found he was a freak. His nervous system didn't register pain. In addition his bones, ligaments, and tendons were far stronger than normal. Without ever having training, he broke several world weightlifting records." Kate paused and licked his lips. "Angel, the things he did and to girls that looked like Faith. We need to get her out of here."

Angel noted the disquiet in the cop's eyes and voice before nodding. "Okay," he looked around and raised his voice. "We need to get everything together and move."

* * *

"How come we're flaking so fast" Faith queried as she joined the others in clambering into their vans. "I thought the plan was we left in the morning."

"It was," Angel shot her a smile. "I'm just eager to see old haunts."

"'Kay," Faith's brow creased. She sensed Angel was bull-shittin' her. From anyone else she wouldn't stand it, but Fang she trusted more than most 'cept maybe Xan. Still, it bugged her to be left out of the loop. "Ya realise it'll be almost day-light when we get there?"

Her idol's smile became more forced. "Then someone else will have to do the house-hunting for once."

"Right." Faith fell silent. Even with Slayer healing her throat still hurt. Maybe the rest would do it good.

One thing with the end of the world, it sure cut down on the traffic and in practically no time at all they were on LA's outskirts. The skyline still looked the same, most of the major buildings and landmarks remained standing. What had changed was the lack of lights glittering in the early morning. Even if people managed to keep power running, they didn't want lights at night, nothing to draw the demons roaming the streets to them.

Faith grimaced. LA. had been rough back in the day when Wolfram & Hart had been running things, but it was whole lot worse now. Forget about the vampire house that ran LA., there was the Scourge sweeping the streets slaying any human they came across, and the Jhe Sisterhood glorying in the world's devastation.

Then there was the human scum. Vigilantes brutally enforcing laws from the old civilisations, feral gangs battling for territory, and The Believers, fucked up humans who worshipped demons and preyed on those who didn't.

Yeah, LA was a real screwed up place. Not that the rest of the country was any better.

"I've a question," Xander's voice brought her out of her grim musings. Faith glanced towards her lover. As bad as her throat felt, Xander's purpled and swollen face looked a hell out of a lot worse. "With all the deaths and the exodus, LA's only got a million people left in it. That's still a helluva haystack to hide a three year old. And we can't exactly call Information."

Angel replied from his position under the blanket in the van's rear. "What I told you was just the cliff-notes, there are certain other clues."

"Such as?" asked Connor, Kate, Illyria, and Groo were in the other van.

"Such as this child is in under the protection of the city's premiere vampire hunters, and he'll have a birth sign on his neck of the roman numeral 'one'."

"Well that narrows it down some," Xander commented,

"Yes," Angel agreed. "Once you've found us a place to stay, I'd suggest you start looking for the child. I'd help, but I don't tan."

"You don't sing either," Faith muttered. "At least not well."

* * *

"Come on! Come on!" 'Looming' Towers giggled as he entered his base, the six men he'd led since they'd escaped their maximum-security prison's death row quickly rising. They'd broke free on the blessed night the monsters had come; proof that god wanted him to continue his work. "We have work to do."

And such glorious work it was. Like the sixteen bitches he'd slaughtered before the police had caught him, although they'd only convicted him for seven. Like the fifteen he and his boys had killed since.

And this new girl who'd caught his eye was a rare prize, such spirit, such strength. He had to smell her fear and taste her pain. Like he'd smelt all those whores' fear. Just like he'd felt fear at the hands of that bitch of a mother.

Until he was eleven and then he'd made sure she'd never hurt him again. Just another Nevada runaway according to the authorities, irresponsibly leaving her child behind. But he knew better, knew the freedom such action gave him.

And now he had another prize to plunder, one with a loose tongue who'd told him just where she was heading. Such spirit, such power, she would be his greatest creation.

* * *

Faith pursed her lips as she looked left and right. It had taken them a couple of hours to find somewhere to hide out, but finally they'd found an underground garage. Once they had, she and Xander had headed into downtown LA, Kate and Illyria had headed east, while Groo and Connor had taken west, Angel having stayed at base.

Now it was closing on mid-day. Once Downtown would have been bustling with people, but now it was a ghost-town. Dust and garbage cloaked the quiet streets, the doors torn off and windows shattered in many of the surrounding buildings. Faith dropped to one knee and looked left and right. All around was devastation, the symbols of a fallen world.

"See that doorway across the street, three doors to the left" she muttered as she peered between a pair of stripped-down cars. "Caught a pair of eyes looking at us a second ago."

"Human?" Xander asked as he inspected the graffitied wall to the right of them.

"Their eyes didn't glow in the dark if that's what ya mean," Faith replied.

"Okay, seeing as I'm bored." Faith shook her head as Xander slid over the nearest car's hood and started across the road. Ever since the fall Xander's patience had been gettin' shorter and shorter.

"Shit," she grunted as she raced after her honey. "I thought I was meant to be the one with impulse control issues."

Xander kicked the door open before striding into the darkened former post office. "Relax we don't mean any harm." Faith rolled her eyes as she followed her lover into the room. That'd be a whole lot more convincing without the kicked in door.

"It's One-Eye," Faith heard a voice in the darkness whisper.

"More than one man has one eye," whispered another.

"But look at the girl," argued another. "She has to be Faith."

"But where's The Dark Man and the others?" whispered the second.

"I am One-Eye," Xander's face tightened. Her boy hated that nickname. "And this is Faith." Xander shone his torch over the group illuminating a ragged group of five men, three woman, and four kids. "We don't want to hurt anybody, all we want is some information. And we're willing to pay with food."

"Information," gasped a woman. "What sort of information?"

"Forget that!" growled one of the men. "What food?"

"We raided a gym a few weeks ago," Xander replied. "We've got protein shake sachets, four dozen in four different flavours, several bottles of multi-vitamin tablets, and a couple of boxes of health bars."

"What do you want?" One of the younger men alternated between shooting hungry looks at Xander's rucksack and Faith.

"Who's the biggest demon hunting group in LA.?" Faith asked. For the next few minutes Faith and Xander listened as the group discussed and argued about just who was the best, Faith spoke. "So this biggest gang, where do they hang out?"

The group's apparent spokesman shrugged. "No where in particular, but the word is The Coops had a dust-up with The Scourge in Brentwood just a few days ago. Left seven of the demons dead."

"Well that's a start," Xander began taking off his rucksack.

"Sir," squeaked a wide-eyed six year old, "are the stories true? Are you and The Dark Man gonna save us all?"

A scared-looking woman started to hush the child. Faith waved the woman to silence as she strode over to the kid, dropping into a crouch before the girl. "Hey little sis," Faith trailed her fingers down the little girl's dirty face, grinning slightly at the child's giggle. "Truth is I don't know. But we're gonna try our best and a friend taught me that's all anyone can do." She pulled a Mars bar out of her pocket and gave it to the girl. "I've been savin' this for the prettiest girl ever and now I've found her." Faith looked over her shoulder to see Xander handing the contents of his rucksack over. "Let's hustle, stud."

The sunlight made Faith blink after the post office's gloomy darkness. "We left the bikes three streets to the left," Xander shot her a look. "Do I need to be worried? You're not getting clucky are you?"

"Funny fucker ain't ya" Faith shot Xander a scorching glare. "Kid just needed someone to believe in, I can relate to that."

* * *

Angel looked up and smiled as he sensed Faith's approach. He looked towards Illyria. "Faith-."

"I am aware of the Slayer's approach and it interests me not." The Old One crossed his arms.

"You're a real people God," Angel muttered. He stepped back as the garage's corrugated entrance slid open, letting in a band of light.

"Hey Fang," Faith greeted as she jumped off her sports bike. "We found the main vamp hunting gang in the city!"

Angel smiled briefly, heart lightening slightly at his protégé's enthusiasm. "That's good."

"Yeah," Faith nodded. "The Coops-."

Oh no, Angel's stomach hollowed. It couldn't be and yet he knew it had to be. "What's their leader called?"

Faith shot him a worried look, clearly puzzled by his tone. "Justine, Justine Cooper."


	4. Chapter 4

**After All Our Nightmares (4/?)**

Faith raised an eyebrow at Angel's groan. "What's the sitch, big guy?"

"Remember how I told you about Holtz kidnapping Connor?" Faith nodded silently. "Holtz trained Justine, she was his second in command. She helped him kidnap Connor, almost killed Wesley, and helped Connor imprison me in the sea after framing me for Holtz's murder."

"So she's an even bigger fan of yours than me."

Faith ignored Xander's unhelpful comment. "Ya wanna sit this one out?"

Angel's mouth opened and closed. "No," the vampire shook his head. "She'll recognise Connor anyway. And we can't risk splitting our forces, not at night. Not when meeting a potentially hostile force."

"Oh," Xander groaned, "meetings with old enemies are always such joy-filled occasions."

* * *

"Here's how it's going to work," Angel looked towards his son. "She'll recognise both me and Connor, so we'll tail you and only come in if there's trouble. Illyria will stay behind to guard the vans. Faith will do the talking. A Slayer will impress them-."

"You hope."

Angel glanced at Xander. "I doubt anybody outside of here has any idea what damage the Mass Calling caused."

"I wasn't thinking of that." Xander shook his head. "There's more than a few people who say the Slayers didn't do enough to stop-."

"Eighty percent of us dead in the first week," Faith snapped. "How's that for trying?"

Xander appeared unmoved by his lover's fury. Angel on the other hand felt sure that if Faith's rage had been directed at him he'd be ashes. "It's not what I think," Xander calmly retorted. "Just what some hardliners do." The Sunnydaler's one-eye turned from the east coast native to him. "This Justine seems like a real hard case to me."

Angel scowled. Xander had an unerring and annoying habit of spotting problems and seeing the flaws in plans. "She is," he conceded. "But unless you have a better plan?"

"I don't," Xander shrugged. "Only thing is if they have an One-Eye and a Faith, they'll be expecting -."

"A Dark Man?" he interrupted. "I thought Groo could wear some of my clothes and stand in." After all it wouldn't be the first time.

Xander chuckled before glancing at Groo. "You'll have to remember not to smile."

"They might not be happy giving up a kid?" This time it was Faith who objected.

"The book says they're orphans," Angel said. "They'll be pleased to get rid of a mouth to feed."

"They will doubtless want something in exchange," Illyria put in.

"I've got a couple of dozen stakes, a couple of crossbows, and a hundred bolts," Xander offered.

Angel smiled thinly. The 'boy' was a carpentry wizard. "This raises another problem," Angel looked towards Faith. "Once we got the kid, we gotta care for it."

Angel grimaced. Travelling the country with children was going to complicate an already perilous journey. "Let's concentrate on getting the child first shall we?"

* * *

Faith's eyes peered through the stygian darkness. Even after three years she still wasn't used to the silence and lack of illumination of an once vibrant city. A cold wind whistled around, briefly lifting the rubbish littering the street before re-depositing it on the ground. Faith shivered, the desolation rather than the wind causing the reaction. Even if they managed to banish the demons what really was left?

"There's a building ahead that looks to have been a 1930s cinema," Angel's voice crackled over the radio. "There's two sentries on its roof. It'd be my guess that it's the demon-hunters' base. At the least they could have information."

Faith shone her torch towards the drab-grey building. To judge from its derelict condition the cinema had been in decay long before the world's collapse. "I'll keep my radio on. If there's any trouble-."

"We'll come running," Angel announced.

"Five by five." Faith looked towards her companions – Xan, Kate, and Groo. "We're on."

After a nervous lick of her lips Faith led her gang across the empty street, making no attempt to conceal their presence. They were half-way across the road when the cinema's ornate doors swung open and a quartet of crossbowmen strode out, flanking a hard-faced, wiry red-head with a shotgun in her hands. "We're not open for strays."

"Hey," Faith spread her hands and shot the woman he recognised from Angel's description as Justine Cooper her best shit-eating grin. "Do we look like the great unwashed?" Okay, so she hadn't a bath or a shower in months, running water was a bitch to find these days. "Name's Faith." Faith smirked at the men's gasps. She was real used to that reaction from guys. "That's One-Eye, The Dark Man I'm guessing you recognise, she's Kate. Now we've all been introduced, how about you step aside and let us in?"

"What do you want?" Justine's face was hard as stone. Now there was a chick who wasn't impressed by reputations.

Faith looked left and right down the empty street. "You've got a nice hideout here, about you invite us in off the street 'fore someone sees us?"

Justine hesitated before nodding, suspicious gaze still fixed on them. This was real welcomin'. "Okay, but you'll have to hand over your weapons."

"Oh come on." Faith shook her head and chuckled. "We both know the only way ya're gettin' our weapons is by prising them out of our cold, dead hands."

Justine's face tightened, this wasn't a woman who liked being balked. "You best come in."

"See if ya give a little, don't it make ya feel good?" Faith asked rhetorically.

The resistance leader just glared as she and her companions backed into the darkened cinema. Inside, the cinema's ticket booth was unoccupied. Some way back stood what had once been the refreshment counter, built into the foyer's rear wall; it was occupied by another quartet of crossbowmen, their bows pointed precisely at them. The passageways to the refreshment counter's left and right were both barricaded with two crossbowmen beneath each blockade. "I don't suppose you've got any popcorn?"

"Someone tell you were funny, Slayer? They lied." Faith's grin widened as the other woman's hostility. B was far from the first woman to be threatened either by her molten hotness or smart mouth, and god willing Justine wouldn't be the last. She supposed it would be smart to dial it down a little, but it wasn't her style. "You're not going any further until you tell us what you want," Justine's tone was like flint.

"Yeah," Faith nodded. Fang had warned her not to give away how important the child was, doing so would only raise the price. Like she couldn't work that out for herself. "We're looking for a kid, 'bout three years old with a birth sign on their neck. Kid'll be an orphan."

"Sounds like Rex Garner," commented one of the men backing Justine.

"Rex is Latin for king."

Faith digested Kate's murmur with a barely discernable nod. Sounded like they'd found their kid, now all they had to do was actually get him. "Why do you want him?"

"I don't think that's important," Faith replied. "Just what you'll get for him." Her eyes remained fixed on Jasmine. "Xander, honey, show 'em your stuff."

Xander threw his two bags down in the space between them. "A couple of dozen stakes, two crossbows, and a hundred bolts."

One of the men crouched down before the bags and peered inside before looking up at the red-head. "These stakes are real good quality."

Justine appeared unimpressed. "We still haven't heard why you want the boy?" The red-head half-smiled. "You don't seem the motherly type."

"Maybe not," Faith chuckled, "but I've always been the experimental type." Her face hardened. "Look the whys don't matter. Fact is ya've got one less mouth to feed and a kid less to worry about. As a bonus ya're getting' a shit-load of quality weaponry. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me."

"The children are our future," Justine commented.

"Sounds like a song to me." Faith's mouth pulled up into a half-smile at Xander's muttered comment. Her mouth opened in a reply.

"Faith!" Suddenly her radio crackled into like. "About thirty vampires coming in fast, moving from roof to roof.

"FUCK!" Faith cursed. One of the side-effects of the fall was that few people now lived in their original homes. With the fall of civilisations, things such as deed of ownership meant fuck all. As a result the rule of invitation rarely applied, vamps could come and go as they pleased. "Get your ass in fast, Angel!"

"Angel!" Justine snapped. "You're in league with him!"

* * *

Xander shot Faith a reproachful glare. His girl-friend and her big mouth. "Now's not the time," he commented. "We need to get to cover fast!"

Justine continued to scowl at the Slayer before reluctantly nodding. "Very well, you," Justine's glare intensified, "come with me to the right. Blondie and Dark Man get behind the counter, and One-Eye go to the left. No-body make a move without my say-so."

Faith shrugged. "Five by five, what about other entrances?"

"The rear exits are all welded shut while the sewer entrance has the office safe on top of it," Justine scowled. "Now any more questions or can we get into position?"

"Jesus," Faith snorted. "Tetchy much?"

Xander continued to shake his head at his girl-friend's complete lack of diplomatic skills as he made through the makeshift barricade of ripped up cinema seats. Sometimes his girl-friend had the social graces of a pissed off rhino.

And that was on a good day.

As Xander crouched down behind the barricade, he noted but ignored the suspicious looks on his companions' faces. Suspicion and fear were a now a fact of life.

The seconds stretched on and on as Xander waited for the vampires to attack.


	5. Chapter 5

**FIC: After All Our Nightmares (5/?)**

The moment the vampires strode past the ticket booth, Justine let out a hoarse, tension-filled yell. The air sung to the firing of bows and echoed to Xander and Justine's shotguns, and Kate's twin automatics. Demon after demon fell, but still they came, snarling and howling.

A red-haired vampire leapt over the barricade. Xander's shotgun came up, but before he could draw a bead, a cold hand grabbed his weapon's muzzle, tearing it from his hands. The gun clattered uselessly to the ground.

He twisted away from the beast as it crashed into him, taking the both of them to the ground. His right forearm uppercutted into the demon's jaw, snapping its head back. His hand dipped inside his jacket for one of his stakes hanging in his quick-release bandolier.

And then the demon's hand was around his throat, squeezing, crushing as the demon pushed him onto his back and straddled him. His free fist smashed into the demon's side to literally no effect, the demon pinning his stake hand down, immobilising it.

Desperation surging through his veins and vision blurring from the lack of air, he ignored his own squeamishness to ram his thumb into one of the vampire's eyes. The demon let out a roar and reared back, its grip around his throat loosening. His hand finally free, Xander shoved his stake into the demon's heart.

The vamp's dust was still settling on him as he leapt up. In the half minute since he'd been knocked down, the combat had degenerated into desperate hand to hand fighting.

And then Angel and Connor crashed through the door.

* * *

Angel growled as he entered the darkened foyer, the stench of freshly spilt blood inflaming his demon. Only long years of practice and the thought of his son and friends allowed him to keep it under control.

A vampire swung to face him, charging in with a thrust kick that he twisted away from and a back-handed punch that he ducked under. Angel grabbed his adversary's grounded leg behind the knee and pulled. The demon hit the ground on its shoulders and rolled up before he had a chance to stamp its face into the faded carpet.

The vampire charged in, arms out-stretched in an attempted waist takedown. Angel leapt into the air, his right knee swinging up to crash into the vampire's face.

His rival's face snapped back, blood fountaining out. A snarl parting its lips, the demon charged in, leading with a looping left that Angel ducked under while both side-kicking another vampire that had charged in from his left and slamming a stake into his first opponent's chest.

Angel spun to face the demon who'd attempted a sneak attack. "Owww!" Angel's head snapped to the side when the vampire, a goateed black, caught him with a right. The demon rushed him, his stake plunging at Angel's chest.

Angel grabbed the demon's wrist as he twisted at the waist and stuck his foot out. The demon stumbled on and over his foot, crashing to the ground.

Angel stepped towards his downed opponent, stake rising. Then a strong arm looped around his neck. "Dumbass!" Angel leaned forward at the waist, grabbed the demon's arm and flung it over his shoulder. "Trying to strangle me!" He caught both downed vampires with kicks to the head.

The first demon he staked before it got up, the second leapt up and charged him, running into an elbow as he twisted around and rammed his stake home.

* * *

Holtz's face flashed before Justine's eyes as she saw Angel. Her crossbow came up, aiming at the cause of so much misery.

And then was snatched away from her. She started to spin to face her assailant. A forearm thudded into her mouth, the bludgeoning blow hitting her with more force than she'd ever been hit.

Her legs buckled under her, knocking her on her ass. Justine glared up at the Slayer, crimson filling her mouth. "What the hell are you doing?"

The sultry bombshell seemed unbothered by the trio of her hunters surrounding her. "Question is what the fuck are ya playin' at? We just saved your ungrateful asses!"

Justine glared up at the dark-eyed warrior. "You've no idea what he took from me!"

The Slayer seemed unfazed by her anger. "Way I heard it, ya're the one who did the takin'. His son, his friends, his freedom. If I was him, I'd have ended ya a long time ago, but Fang's way more tolerant than I am."

Justine's face flushed. "Get her!"

Her crooked grin still firmly in place, the Slayer shot out a side-kick to the left, folding the man stood there in two. The one to the raven-tressed beauty's right threw a haymaker than Faith caught in her fist and twisted, sending the man crashing to the ground as the Slayer stepped back and rammed her head back into the face of the man stood behind her. Bone cracked under the attack, the nose of Justine's third man shattering completely.

The man fell away, eyes glazing over in unconsciousness. The two remaining men leapt at the Slayer in flanking motion. The sultry beauty stepped back, grabbed the man rushing in from the left by the shoulder and flung him into the other, the two men hitting the ground in a pile. "These guys ain't ready for the big leagues," the Slayer commented with a smirk. "How 'bout 'ya?"

Justine growled as she sprang up and charged the Slayer. Full locks dancing, the bombshell spun away from her thrust kick and casually drove an elbow into the side of her head. Justine grunted, knocked off balance by the powerful blow. She twisted at the waist, attempting a wild haymaker the mockingly-laughing warrior ducked under before kicking her in the side of her left knee. "Aaaah!" Justine gasped as she fell forward, the Slayer's combination of fluid grace and bullish power totally out-classing her.

"Normally," she gasped again when the Slayer yanked a handful of hair, "I find hair-pulling a bit girly, but," the raven-haired warrior's knee crashed into the side of her head, "in your case," Justine slumped to her knees, "I'll make an exception."

"That's enough, Faith," Angel said.

Justine glared up at the Irish vampire. "Ah, Fang," the Slayer pouted playfully as she looked up at the tall undead, "I was gonna tan her hide. Please," the Slayer wheedled. The vampire merely raised an eyebrow. "Fine!" The younger woman snatched her elbow and yanked her to her feet. "How about you get us the kid?"

"Wow!" She summonsed up the courage to snap. "I thought Slayers were meant to protect us from vampires not feed them tasty snacks?"

Justine realised her mistake when the Bostonian's eyes turned to ebony stone. The east coast native's fist went back. And then the vampire grabbed the girl's bicep. "Don't." Angel ordered. The vampire looked towards her. "You can't exactly stop us," the undead calmly pointed out. "You fight, some of your people will get hurt, maybe some of mine, the boy will get scared, and you don't get your weapons. Nobody wins."

Justine looked around, a bitter ball lodging in her throat as she realised her front-line troops, her elite, were already under Angelus' people's control. "This way," she grunted.

* * *

"Ya touch the goods ya gotta buy 'em, Fang." Angel released his grip on the Slayer's arm, shooting her a look that was half warning glance and half smile. Faith winked back at him before looking over to Xan. "X, ya and the others keep our hosts company while me and Fang get the kid."

Angel looked towards a still glowering Justine. "Lead the way." The red-head shot him a hate-filled glare before brusquely nodding and starting down a corridor.

The once gleaming red carpet had long since been trampled into a muddy brown, the lights that had once lined and illuminated the corridor had now dissipated into darkness. Justine walked past the toilets, stopped, looked back and glared at them, before grumpily shoving a door open. "In here."

Angel shot Faith a wary look before following Justine through the doorway. The darkened room beyond had originally been one of the theatre's two cinemas. Now it was bereft of the chairs that had once filled it; there were sixty or so people, each staring back at them with a mixture of suspicion, fear, and hope. Justine's harsh voice broke the silence. "We need Rex."

* * *

"Do you think Angel and Faith are alright?"

"They better be," Xander replied to Kate's question, eyes fixed disdainfully on Justine's lackeys, the men and women of her crew glaring back at him. It was pathetic really, the world had gone to hell, but this woman still had a Vulcan death-grip on olden-days' grudges. He had more than enough reason to hate Angel, for start lying about his true nature, preying on Buffy, Jenny's death. But he could put that aside to help people.

Heck, if you came right down to it, he wouldn't have his girl now if Angel hadn't saved her.

Xander half-grinned. And didn't that fact just irritate the hell out of him?

* * *

After a second a blue-eyed boy with long, straggly brown hair and dressed in a dirty sweater and ragged, hand-me-down dungarees was pushed out. In an instant Faith was crouched by the toddler. "Hey little guy, my name's Faith. What's yours?" Angel raised an eyebrow, inwardly rocked by his protégé's uncharacteristically gentle tone.

"R…Rex."

"Rex?" Faith wrapped her around the toddler's waist and stood, holding him to her. "Have ya ever been outside LA?" the boy timidly shook his head. "Would ya like to go on a big trip and have lots of fun?" the boy nodded again. Faith beamed. "There ya go. Ya got any toys or stuff?" The toddler shyly shook his head as one of the women shoved a bag into Faith's hand. "'Kay," Faith looked towards him, "can we loot a toy store on the way back?"

Angel smiled, amused by Faith's show of maternal affection. "'Course we can."

"Wicked," Faith beamed at him before looking down at the boy. "I'd bet ya'd love some toys ya little tyke."

Little tyke? Angel mouthed the words in disbelief, he hadn't been this floored since he'd first met Lorne's mother. The Slayer and her bashful companion slinked past him. On the one hand, Faith's treatment of the boy was both touching and amusing, but on the other it could lead to serious problems later.

Angel turned to follow his friend. "Enjoy your snack," sniped Justine.

Before the red-head could react he'd spun around, grabbed her around the throat and slammed her into the wall. Angel stared into the vampire-hunter's eyes for a hard second before speaking, voice held dangerously low. "You helped kidnap my son, almost killed my friend, framed me for murder, and banished me to a watery prison. You cross me again and you'll find that although I'm immortal, my patience isn't."


	6. Chapter 6

**FIC: After All Our Nightmares (6/?)**

Lord Wolfgang Steel scowled as he looked around his kingdom. He was the west coast vampire ruler, a five hundred year old demon whose lineage was of one of the eight great vampires, in his case a childe of Lothos. Yet for all his power, his garden was not the odd weed.

"I hear the raid on The Coops' failed?"

"Yes," Wolfgang looked up at the red-head stood in his lounge's doorway. Any irritation he might have felt at the intrusion was lost when he saw his childe's beauty. Rusty ringlets cascaded down her neck to frame a milky-white, cupid-shaped face containing the most beautiful smile and most brilliant emerald eyes he'd ever seen. Of course, the curvy body encased in a thank god she didn't have to breathe black leather Basque was a definite bonus.

Before the fall Virginia Bryce had been a spoilt rich kid, but now she was his childe, the queen of his kingdom. Only she could speak to him in such a disrespectful way and not face reprisals. "It appears The Dark Man and his allies interrupted our attack."

"Doubtless the Coops will have moved out and found themselves a new base," his lover mused before looking at him. "Something will have to be done about Angel and his pet Slayer."

"My thoughts exactly dear," Wolfgang rose, took his lady's hand and led her through the mansion Virginia had owned as a human. The curtains were of course all drawn, shrouding the house in an oppressive darkness.

Eventually they made their way through to the sprawling front hall to find a short, powerfully-built man with a shaven head, cold grey eyes, and a lantern jaw. The vampire hurriedly rose from the cushion covered sofa he'd been sitting on and bowed his head. "Lord. Lady."

"Stark Jabo." Wolfgang nodded at the vampire, courteous despite the breadth of difference in their age and station. After all, one didn't become the commander of Irre Nacht without achieving at least something of a reputation.

When the world had fallen, the vampires had found themselves in a strange position. In the rampant ascendancy but at the same time faced with huge enemies battling them to be on top of the new world order, these enemies had included black arts mages, Immortals, arch-demons, rogue demons, and others. To battle these enemies, the world's most powerful vampires had selected the most athletic and sadistic of their minions to form an elite cadre of assassins – Irre Nacht.

Yes, Jabo was not a demon one lightly disrespected.

"The Dark Man disrupted your attempt to kill the Coops I hear," Jabo commented.

"You've tried to kill him before haven't you?" Lady Virginia demanded. "You killed his pet Slayer's pupil, the formerly mad Slayer?"

"And his team killed three of my people," Jabo recalled with a growl.

"Well this time was the last time," Wolfgang replied. "I've spoken to The High Council," a fittingly ironic name for their ruling body given their age-old enmity with the Watchers, "and they've agreed. You're to hunt no-body else but The Dark Man." Wolfgang smiled suddenly. "And I've got a new member for you. Please," he looked to the far entrance, "come in."

The African-American who sauntered in was tall and lean, shaven-head gleaming in the light of the lounge's glittering chandelier. He was hated and feared in the vampire community despite his youth, a notorious vampire hunter turned vampire, a rarity in their life. Good stock added to the mystique around the black. He'd refused to confirm just who his sire was, he never spoke about him except him in the most roundabout and hateful tones, but he was either William The Bloody's, Slayer of two Slayers, or Angel's, killer of many notable vampires and saviour of the world on numerous occasions.

"Charles Gunn wants to join Irre Nacht?" Jabo queried.

The African-American vampire's fangs flashed. "If it means I get my hands on Angel I do. Maybe have him watch us hurt his friends a little before we kill him."

* * *

The Arc, An Undisclosed Location

"Have you seen this?" President Reeves pointed at his situation room's wall, the image of a smirking brunette illuminated on it. "She has a police record! Her mother was a junkie whore and she's a convicted murderer, and yet the public think she's some sort of hero!"

General Nathan Kent stared impassively at the President. The president was a small man both in stature and personality, his eyes constantly shifting almost like a con-man's on the make, his chin weak and manner that of an unspanked child. Before all this, the President had been a deputy Secretary of Defence. In Kent's unspoken opinion the man had risen about as far as his meagre talents would take him. Of course no-one had reckoned on the world ending. It wasn't the sort of thing that people factored into their plans.

Now though Reeves was President and ruler of The Arc. The Arc was the biggest, most expensive, and longest running black op in American and probably world history. It was the ultimate bunker, an underground city sixty feet down with a hidden key-coded elevator entrance, with supplies and energy resources to support twenty-five thousand for two decades.

Of course the demonic invasion had come with a lot less notice than a nuclear war, so less than six thousand of those allowed access to The Arc had actually made it there. Those that did were as safe as any humans left.

Realising that Reeves was still staring belligerently at him, Kent fashioned a reply. "Whatever she's done in the past, she helps people now. And she's been pardoned of any and all crimes."

"She gives people false hope!" Reeves spat, eyes shining with venom. "Hope we can't fulfil." Kent briefly wondered at just what caused Reeves' odium towards the Slayer beauty. Her criminal past? Her courage? Her ability to create hope? Her heroic deeds? Whatever the reason, the president was a small man who rather than be inspired by others' exploits instead hated them for their accomplishments. "Worse than that," the president continued, "she works with a vampire and a demon goddess." The politician shook his head. "She'll have to be eliminated, her entire group will." The president smiled cruelly. "Which Wrath team do you have available?"

Kent hid a grimace. As erstwhile Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff he'd created The Wrath, top-secret, mobile twenty strong units consisting of members of the pre-fall military elite units – the Green Berets, US. Rangers, 82nd Airborne, Navy SEALs, and Marine Recon. Since The Fall, they'd operated remotely of The Arc, assassinating major demons and vampires in addition to renegade humans preying on the innocent. It was a drip drab way of waging war but also the best they could do.

However demons and collaborators were meant to be the targets, not human heroes. However Reeves was the Commander In Chief, no matter his lack of will, ability, and fibre. "Spear and Mace are on the east coast," he glanced at the lap-top display. "Hammer and Sword are in the deep south, Dagger and Javelin are in the mid-west. Lance are in the mid-south. Axe is nearest," he forced himself to look up, "they're in Nevada."

Reeves nodded curtly. "Axe it is then."

* * *

Kansas

Ares continued walking, impervious to the fire his scaled adversary was breathing down on him. The moment he calculated he was in range, Ares leapt up to confront the wyvern. The dragon's long jaw latched onto his right arm, fangs cutting deep. The beast's golden eyes glared at him as he thudded blow after blow into its head, each punch shattering scales.

Finally the stunned reptile crashed to the ground, dust billowing up as its jaws slackened around his arm. Ares immediately grabbed the dragon's head in both his hands and twisted. Flesh tore and yellow ichor gushed out as the demon's head came off in his hands.

Ares looked around. It had been a successful hunt – Tyr, Armaz, Ashur, Ogun, Montu, and Vali were still functional, the corpses of five dragons lying around them.

Once there had been a score of them. Project Praetorian had been born out of the ashes of Dr. Walsh's failed ADAM experiments. Deceased soldiers fused with a combination of cybernetics and demons to make the ultimate killing machines. They were to have been the first in an army of cyborgs.

Then the demonic invasion had occurred. In a panic the head of the project had input their A.I. before final testing and turned them live, hoping they would defend their facility in the Colorado desert.

Instead once activated, they'd determined that the facility's staff didn't meet their A.I's definition of a human and systematically slaughtered them. Since then they'd been following their programming. Protecting humans by eliminating any creature who didn't meet their AI's specifications of a human.

They had faced all manner of enemies – Slayers, vampires, zombies, soldiers, weres, dragons, manticores, trolls, and demons. In the process the majority of their number had been deactivated, but those who survived learnt from every battle, adding the experience and information to their already extensive tactical and demonology files. Becoming better killers.

Ares looked up at Vali and Ogun's approach. "You sustained injury."

Ares glanced down at his ravaged arm. "It heals," he reported. One of the demons they'd been blended with had healing attributes; as a result they could heal any wound apart from a decapitation, amputation, or instantly lethal blow.

Ogun nodded, the plate covering his face hiding any possible expression. "Tyr has spotted a human settlement three point two kilometres away, population somewhere in the vicinity of two thousand."

"Then," Ares looked around, "we should head there. If they are pure we shall protect them, if they are unclean we shall exterminate them."

* * *

The sound of his gang's raucous partying drifted around Shallow Graves, failing to lift his spirits. They'd had good pickings just the previous week, a convoy of six vans heading for a rumoured fortress. They'd been plenty of women to entertain his men and plenty of food to fill their bellies.

But Shallow Graves hadn't joined in the celebrations. He'd been too busy brooding over a brunette bitch who'd helped a trio of women escape his camp and in the process killed his brother and scarred him.

Graves was a leader of a Carrion gang, motor-cycling scavengers who traversed the nation's roads taking from those too weak to defend themselves. His boys, The Swinging Hammers, had taken a trio of three women and were fixing to enjoy themselves when the bitch and her companions had arrived. Graves reached and stroked his shredded cheek where the cow had shoved the broken end of his beer bottle.

One day though, he catch up with that slut. And then she'd be the one getting scarred. Over and over again.

* * *

L.A.

Towers giggled as he remembered the beauty's power, how she'd been shaken by his strength. Shaken but still determined to fight him.

He'd found out she was famous, a warrior who fought alongside other warriors for good. It was a shame she'd crossed her path, but it was God's Will. If he'd wanted her to live, he'd made sure she never crossed his path or been a blonde.

Anything other than a brunette. Such glorious hair.

Towers giggled again.

* * *

N.Y.

"Oh the stars, they sing such a happy tune. Ha! Ha! Ha! Daddy's coming home, home to spank his precious daughter!"


	7. Chapter 7

**FIC: After All Our Nightmares (7/?)**

"So you like playin' soldiers?" Rex nodded shyly at her question. "'Kay," she ruffled the little guy's hair, "how 'bout you be the humans," Faith picked up the colourfully-painted figures they'd picked up from a toy shop on the way out of L.A., "and I'll be the elves." Rex nodded again. "Kay," Faith took a hold of the lil guy under his arms and lifted him up, "but on one condition, you give me a big smile and say please Faith."

The boy's bottom lip quivered almost as if he was gonna cry, but then he managed a quick squeak. "Please Faith."

"Ah," Faith pulled the three year old into a loose hug, "I'd love to play with ya, sweetie." Faith's eyes narrowed as she sensed a familiar presence behind her and gently put the boy down, ruffling his hair again as she did so. "How 'bout you start settin' your guys up while I talk to Angel. Don't go anywhere mind?"

"Yes Faith," the boy nodded.

Faith's heart did a flip flop at the boy's dutiful obedience. "Aw, you're a lil angel ain't ya." Faith kipped up and turned to face the silhouette in the darkness. "And you're kinda big Angel aren't you?"

The broad-shouldered vampire stepped out of the darkness, hands in pockets, and a rare smile on his face. "I've been called worse." The demon chuckled. "Often by you."

Faith grinned back at her best friend. "Yeah, but I can't use that sorta language in front of the kid can I?"

For some reason Angel's eyes saddened, probably thinkin' of the years he'd missed with Conn. "You do a great job of looking after him."

Faith shrugged and looked down at her sneakers as she reddened, embarrassed by the praise. "Ain't hard, Rex is a sweetie," she glanced at the toddler, "aren't you honey?" Rex beamed and waved at her, so she waved back.

"I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit," Angel reproved.

Faith shrugged. "I know what I always wanted but never got as a kid, love. And this little munchkin makes it real easy."

"Right," Angel shuffled self-consciously from foot to foot before continuing. "You'll have to keep Rex close to you, kids need watching especially these days."

"Well duh, I'm not fu-freaking idiot, Angel," Faith retorted before flashing a dimpled smile. "The lil guy can sleep in my sleepin' bag with me. It's not like Xan's been in a giving mood recently anyhow."

Angel sighed long-sufferingly. "Feel free not to share."

Faith snorted. "What's the fun in that?"

"Need to pee-pee," Rex squeaked.

"Oh fu-, fun," Faith quickly amended before glancing towards her friend to ask him to take the boy only to find he had melted back into the shadows. "Bastard," she muttered under her breath before holding out her hand to Rex. "Grab a hold, kid, we'll find a nice tree or somethin' for you to spray. Come on."

* * *

Angel smiled sadly as he watched his friend lead the boy into the bushes by their van. It was heartening to see just how readily Faith had taken to the role of Rex's care-giver, but when the truth came out about Rex and the others she would be hurt and angry.

It may even cost him his closest remaining friend and last real link to Buffy.

Angel sighed deeply, the conflict between his friends' happiness and saving the world weighing heavy on his heart. There was no contest really of course, but if the world required this sacrifice, was the world itself with its inequalities, injustices, and atrocities really worthy of saving?

Angel's eyes narrowed at a flapping sound overhead. Looking up he let out a gasp at the grey-skinned monstrosities diving down at them. "Trouble!"

* * *

Xander grimaced as he tossed and turned in his sleeping bag, although he and Faith hadn't exactly been 'active' in the past few weeks, he missed her huddled next to him. He wanted to tell her that but something, pride, fear, a need to punish himself for living, prevented him. And as a result he couldn't get to sleep-.

"Trouble!"

Angel's bellow crashed through the night prompting Xander to throw off his blankets and scrabble desperately for his shotgun. "Yes!" he gasped as he grabbed hold of the gun's barrel and swung it up, finger tugging on the trigger.

"Ahhh!" One of the Gargoyles, he recognised them from Giles' books, his heart caught at the memory of the so proper Englishman, swept in at him only to spin in the air when his bullets tore through the beast's side, a hideous caw erupting from its mouth. Blood leaking from the wound in its side, the monster dived back in, only to take a shotgun blast that tore one half of its head off.

But even as that gargoyle hit the ground, another swept in, its claws raking the air as Xander rolled away from it, the shotgun bucking twice in his hands as he sent lead into it, wincing slightly as it fell away and his finger clicked empty. "Oh hell." Xander gulped as he looked up at the remaining gargoyles sweeping down on the camp.

"Impudent curs."

* * *

"Trouble!"

Rex barely had time to look up anxiously at her, her own eyes looking fixedly away from the urinating kid, when gunfire broke out. "FAITH!"

Faith spun around the instant the boy started screaming, snatching him up into her arms and rocking him from side to side as she peered into the shadows and whispered into the sobbing boy's ear. "Hey lil guy, it's cool," she soothed, "my gang will," she groaned as she realised the frightened boy had continued peeing after she'd lifted him, soaking her, "deal with 'em." Telling herself she wasn't her mother, she calmed herself before continuing. "We're not gonna let anythin' happen to a little treasure like you are we?"

Rex peered up at her, scared eyes meeting hers. "Promise?"

"Hey," Faith kissed the toddler on her head. "I promise." Damn it, Faith continued peering into the darkness, the tantalising sounds of the fight drifting to her on the wind, it was real hard not to charge in, fists and feet flying. She looked down at Rex. But she had more grown-up concerns now. "No-one's gonna hurt my lil guy."

* * *

"Impudent curs!" Illyria growled as she grabbed one of the flying fiends by its ankle, swung the cawing thing overhead, and launched it into another one of its number as it swooped in. "You dare attack the God-King?" she screamed as the duo fell. Another swept down, but she grabbed it by its throat and squeezed, fingers tearing through and crushing flesh until the monster's head popped off.

All around was chaos, her companions fighting desperately for their lives against their enemy. Her companions, she sniffed disdainfully as she snatched one of the beasts by its leathery wing, yanked it to the ground and straddled it, hitting it with blow upon blow. In truth she protected the humans merely as a matter of routine, knowing her Wesley would wish it. For herself she cared less than naught for these lesser life-forms.

Although, she smiled as she punched clean through to the monster's skull, she did gain some small satisfaction from rending these beasts limb from limb for having the audacity to attack those under the protection of the God-King.

* * *

Faith took a breath as a silence appeared to fall over the camp. "So kid," Faith forced a confident tone, "ya wanna head back to the camp and see if Uncle Xan and the rest are alright? I bet they're wicked worried 'bout ya."

"You think?" the three-year old warily asked.

"A lil cutie like you," Faith kissed Rex on the forehead, "course they will." Faith sniffed. "'Sides I need to change my clothes, they're kinda dirty now."

Rex's eyes widened. "I'm sorry-."

"You were scared baby, no big." Faith crept through the darkness, only relaxing when she saw the others putting the camp back together. "What the hel-, heck happened here?"

"Gargoyle attack," Lockley said, eyes filled with her usual suspicion. Fuck her. "Surprised you weren't here helping us."

"I had the lil guy to look after didn't I?" Faith defended hotly. "Had to protect him."

"'Course you do Fait-," Angel sniffed. "Had an accident did you?"

"Ha, ha," Faith glared at her idol. "It was the kid, I need to get changed-."

"I hope," Illyria stared at her, "the child will not be noisy. I need the time for my meditation, and a squalling child will interfere."

Rex whimpered at Illyria's gaze. "You know you just give me the warm and fuzzies, Smurf, you really do," Faith sniped.

Illyria's glare turned glacial. "Only one could call me that, and that is not you. Be warned, I will not tolerate such disrespect."

Faith met the Old One glare for glare. "Duly noted. And I won't tolerate you scarin' Rex, you dig?"

Xander groaned from somewhere in the darkness. "Oh this is going to be such a fun trip."


	8. Chapter 8

**FIC: After All Our Nightmares (8/?)**

He giggled as something set off one of the many magical alarms scattered across the city, he peered into his globe, excitement growing as he focussed in on the battered van driving through Tucson's deserted outskirts. His anticipation increased as he recognised two of the van's occupants.

A manic giggle bubbled up out of his mouth. He might not be able to ever avenge himself on his old nemesis, but the nemesis' boy? That could work. "Dear," he trilled, "we have guests!"

The scar-faced witch hurried through from the bedroom. "Oh Xander!" cooed his insane bedmate, eyes alighting with an unholy glee as she clapped her hands. "Is Willow with her? Is she!"

"I keep telling you," he thought back the urge to backhand her to the floor by grabbing a handful of anti-psychotic pills and chucking them down his throat. "She's dead."

"Oh yeah," the witch peered down at the globe. "We should send out the hellhounds, Willow is sure to come investigating if we kill Xander."

Ethan opened his mouth to once again explain that Willow was dead but instead clamped his mouth shut and shook his head. What was the bloody use? Ever since the Cataclysm, Amy had the memory of a goldfish and the reasoning capability of a cheerleader. "Unleash the hellhounds."

* * *

Faith peered out of the window, Rex curled up in her lap sleeping, noting the thick dust covering everything and the city's creepy silence, the only sound the wind whistling through the empty streets. They'd made good time here, record time actually.

But then if Armageddon was good for anything, it was good for curing traffic jams.

Faith glanced over her shoulder to Angel crouched in the van's shadowy back. "Any news on bad sh-, " she glanced at Rex in her arms and amended her words, "stuff in this area?" Faith paused to consider what she'd said. "Or at least worse than what we're used to?"

"Nothing concrete," Angel's worried eyes gleamed in the darkness.

"Solidify it for us," Kate humourlessly demanded.

Angel glanced at the former cop, but then Faith supposed everyone was 'former something' in this new world. "Weird sacrifices," Angel shook his head, "no that's not the word. Weird experiments have been turning up all over the city."

"Weird experiments?" Connor queried.

"Corpses with body parts or organs missing, or added," Angel clarified.

"That's just whack," Faith commented with a shudder and protective look down at the slumbering child nestling against her.

"Whack or not," Xander grunted. "We're gonna have to stop for petrol, otherwise we'll never make Texas, and I don't feature Deadboy doin' too well in the desert, never mind the rest of us."

"We're out of petrol," complained Kate, "already?"

"Hey, you're the one who insisted we take out the windows and add bulletproof glass, put a grille on the front and reinforce the sides and roof," Xander defended. "All that stuff adds weight and takes away from the acceleration, not to mention hellaciously cutting down on the miles we can get per gallon."

"Come complaining to me when we get caught in a gunfight," Kate shot back.

"Oh and by the way," Xander continued on, undeterred by the cop's reply, "who actually had to do the work YOU insisted on. Not you!"

Faith rolled her eyes, a reluctant grin tuggin' on her full lips as the pair bickered. The gang of misfits had become like the family she'd never truly expected, their arguments and debates becoming like a warm blanket that she knew would always comfort her.

"There's a few hours before night-time," Connor spoke up. "Time enough to find a petrol source."

"I'll take Illyria and go west-."

"I am not a servant, God-King!" Illyria thundered an interruption that had Faith raising an eyebrow. Bitch had more ego that B, but hell, she could punch a lot harder too. "I will consent to allow you to accompany me."

"That's a relief," Kate replied, Faith suspected her tongue was firmly in her cheek, "Connor, you and Xander go to the east. We'll keep in touch via the walkie talkies. Faith, you stay here with Angel and Rex."

"Yes siree, officer," Faith snarked and was rewarded with a smouldering glare.

"Faith," Faith peered down at the wakening boy in her lap. "Can we play catch?"

Faith beamed down at the toddler. "Say please."

"Ppllllllease."

"There ya go," Faith winked, "grab the ball from the back and we'll start."

"Okay," Rex giggled as he climbed through into the back, "do you wanna come play with me and Faith, Angel?"

"I think I'll stay in here thanks Rex."

"Angel doesn't like workin' on his tan," Faith explained as she picked Rex up and hooked him under her arm, "it's just me and you champ!"

* * *

Xander stopped outside the dust crusted petrol station, cobwebs covering its grimy windows. "We'll need to go around the back," he decided. "See if there's any supplies in the garage."

"Have you noticed how it's getting harder and harder to find stuff?"

Xander nodded. "I've noticed," he agreed as they crept around the back of the station. In the beginning things had been chaotic, but supplies had been plentiful, the problem was fighting off others for them. The decimation of the world's population meant there was a surplus, but profiteers and bandits warehousing valuables cut into that substantial surplus. It was ironic, these days people would walk past an open safe filled with gold, currency, and precious stones in favour of a chocolate bar, pack of batteries, or can of petrol.

Xander stopped at the garage attached to the petrol station, hope rising as he noticed the padlock still on the door. Unless the petrol station's owners had grabbed everything before leaving, there was a good chance there'd be some petrol in here. Xander looked towards his companion. "Got those bolt-cutters?"

"Sure," Connor stepped forward, readied the cutters and then the chains were clinking to the ground.

"Thanks," Xander eased the creaking door open and then shone his torch inside.

"Looks like Faith's getting clucky. Are we going to be hearing the pitter-patter of tiny feet in the near future?"

Xander turned from examining the unfortunately empty jerry-cans and glared at his companion. "Are you trying to be funny?"

"I don't try, I just am."

"Stop," Xander instructed as he burrowed deeper into the back of the garage, "it's creepy enough trying to get my head around Deadboy having a son, much less one with a sense of humour." Xander crouched down as he glanced around the darkened garage. There was no petrol here, but there were a few tools they could scavenge.

"A woman with child blossoms with beauty and radiance." Both he and Connor turned and stared incredulously at Groo. "But perhaps not."

"I can just see Illyria as the baby's god-demon," Connor ruminated. "Knitting romper suits for the little rugrat."

Xander stared at the hybrid. "Please, I'm begging you stop, now you're scar-." His eye narrowed at Connor's sudden blanch. "What's up?"

Connor scowled. "Something coming, sounds like a dog but smells demonic."

Xander's heart dropped as his mind took a quick detour into his past. "A hellhound."

* * *

"I am not your pack horse," complained Illyria as she followed behind Kate, the petrol sloshing in the cans they'd found.

"Huh," Kate had long since decided against arguing with the God-King. She'd taken on many a ragin' PCP junkie in her time, but they paled next to a being who could literally punch their way through your skull. Anyway, she wasn't going to let anything spoil her mood, the second place they'd hit had been a supermarket forecourt petrol station with an entire pump-full of petrol. Of course they couldn't get into the pump, what with the computer and electronics controlling it being down, but then that's when god-kings came in handy. Illyria had torn the top off the pump like she was a tin opener then they'd shoved their funnel in and sieved off as much petrol as they could take.

All in all, a painless trip.

Kate stopped, realising the demon had halted behind her. "What is it?" she demanded as she turned.

"An approaching demon," Illyria smiled, "no, demons. Glorious battle approaches."

"Great," Kate really didn't share her companion's enthusiasm. "Let's get behind this wall," she nodded towards a crumbling, waist-high wall in front of a private residence.

* * *

The dust scuffled underfoot as Rex raced to the other side of the empty street, his face alight with excitement. "I'm ready, Faith!"

"I can see that lil guy!" Faith winked at the boy as she dropped in a crouch. "You ready?" Rex nodded. "It's comin' fast kiddo, are you sure?" Rex nodded. "'Kay!" Faith gently half-dropped\half-lobbed the ball at her charge, the ball bouncing on the ground just before it.

"Got it!" Rex squealed as he threw a wild ball that had her leaping into the air to catch it.

"Yeah!" Faith gently lobbed the kid the basketball. "It's the NBA finals and Michael Jordan is in the house!" She grinned as the boy threw the ball across the street to her, gracefully twisting her body to catch it.

"Who's Michael Jordan?" Rex queried.

Faith forced a smile even as she threw the ball back. Yeah, 'course the lil guy wouldn't know who Jordan was. He was a part of a world who'd never known sport, or TV, or anything but harshness and struggle.

No wonder they connected.

"He's a guy who I knew who played catch," Faith explained as she re-caught the ball. "But he was nowhere near as good as-." Her voice trailed off as she heard something indistinct carried to her on the wind. "Shit," she muttered before looking towards Rex, "kiddo, come here honey," she forced a calm voice.

Rex pouted. "But-."

"Here now!" she snapped. "Move it!"

Rex gasped as if slapped, but she hadn't time for his feelings, she had to save his life. Faith snatched up her sword as she raced towards the boy, scooped him up, and headed towards the van doors. Her eyes widened as she saw the hellhounds racing at them from both directions. "Ah hell!" Faith cursed as she threw her sword up onto the roof, her blade clanging down on it as she leapt like a high-jumper goin' for the world record, her free hand reaching up to grab the roof's side, then swing up onto the top, landin' in a crouch.

"Faith-."

"No time Fang!" she scooped up her sword and adjusted her grip on Rex to a collar one, her eyes fixed on the snarling beasts, "open the back door, Rex is coming in!" Rex let out a wordless wail as she swung him over the van's edge and through the slight gap.

Then Faith heard one of the hellhounds jump and spun to meet it.


	9. Chapter 9

**FIC: After All Our Nightmares (9/?)**

Her blade slashed left to right, hacking the hellhound's snarling snout off its face as she dropped onto her back, allowing the beast's momentum to carry it over her even as its blood rained down on her. "Gross much!" she complained as she leapt up, blood dripping from her hair and top. Quality clothes like everythin' else these days were a bitch to find, and a girl had to look good.

All thoughts of fashion fled when another one of the hellhounds leapt up at her. The moment its head cleared the roof, Faith brought the flat of her blade down on its head. "Bad puppy!" she scolded as her weapon cracked its skull, the animal dropping soundlessly, dust leaping when it crashed to the ground.

Faith spun at the sound of growling to her left but was too late to prevent a third hellhound from climbing onto the roof. "Ah," she winced as she noticed the powerful muscles bunching beneath its red fur, baleful eyes, and most of all its slavering jagged teeth. "Good puppy?" The monster responded to her hopeful question with a low growl, its hungry drool falling from its mouth to splatter and sizzle on the van's roof. "Yeah," Faith shrugged and sighed, "'bout what I figured."

The moment the hellhound leapt forward, Faith back-flipped off the roof and onto the van's dust-covered hood, metal denting on impact. "Hey," she muttered, "is that dent some sorta comment on my wei -. Whoa!" Faith dropped onto her ass as the hellhound leapt off the roof and at her, her shoulder and arm muscles rippling as she two-handed thrust her sword up and into the monster's underbelly.

The beast's pained screams filled her ears as its entrails and blood splattered down on her. "Shit!" Faith cursed as blood hit her forehead. "Oh for fuck's sake!" She cursed as the dying creature's momentum carried him over her, wrenching her blade from her hands in the process.

Hearing the sound of growling to her left, Faith rolled right the second before the last remaining hellhound pounced down on where she'd been laid. Faith kept on rolling until she hit the ground on her feet, head turning towards the growling beast. "You want me?" she challenged. "Come get me-." Even as she was issuing her dare, the beast was taking her up on it, leaping at her. Heart pounding, Faith dropped into a forward roll that carried her under the monster's jump and all the way to the van's rear. Faith kipped up in time to see the monster twisting around to face her and leaping at her throat.

Only to collide face-first into the door Faith had pulled open, hitting it with enough force to drop it like a stone. The moment the stunned creature hit the ground Faith was on it, dropping a knee across its throat, grabbing its wet nose in her hands and yanking its head up, breaking its neck with a wince-inducing crack.

After a glance around to satisfy herself there weren't anymore hellhounds about, Faith hurried to the front of the van, collected her sword, and climbed back into the van's comfortingly shadowed interior. "Faith!"

Faith sidestepped Rex's arms-out rush. "Hold up champ," she soothed. "I don't wanna you getting any of this gunk all over you, might have germs and stuff. Speaking of which," she grabbed the bottom of her shirt and started to pull it up, "I need to change."

"Faith, not in front of the boy!"

"Jeez, you sound like we're married Fang," Faith shot back. "I'm not staying in this cra-," she glanced at Rex then amended what he'd been about to say, "ruined shirt and pants. And I'll keep my undies on." She sighed at Fang's look. "Rex honey, look at the wall and close your eyes for a minute for me." Faith looked towards her friend. "Happy?"

Angel half-smiled. "You know me, I'm never happy."

"Yeah, yeah," Faith pulled her shirt over her head and started going through her pack, "phone the others, and check if they're alright. Oh and don't you peek either."

Angel pouted. "Would you really take away a redemption-seeking vampire's one chance of seeing heaven?"

"You know for a glowering brood-guy, you're a regular comedian. Whole lotta fun at parties too."

* * *

Connor shot Xander a curious look. He didn't dislike his father's verbal sparring partner, but didn't have a clue what a goddess like Faith saw in him. But he wasn't used to seeing a look of fear on the one-eyed man's face. "A what?"

"A beast you never wanna wrestle in a dress shop, and that's from someone who used to date Cordelia Chase," the youth shook his head. "And was she a beast in a dress shop."

"That she was." Connor half-smiled. Sometimes he forgot she'd had a life before he met her.

"This creature it is a fearsome beast?" Groo said.

"Oh yeah," Xander started backing towards the derelict petrol station, the shotgun he seemingly always had on him, "we need to get in here and fast."

"We are mighty warriors," Groo protested. "We do not run from a fight."

"Listen you lunk-head," Xander hissed. "It's not cowardly to fight a battle on your own terms rather than your enemies', it's sensible. We'll likely be out-numbered, and not wanting to take them on at close-quarters."

Yeah, he guessed that made sense. Connor grabbed Groo's shoulder. "Come on."

The petrol station's interior was dark and stank of oil and rotting food, dust thick on both the floor and walls. "Here," Xander spoke the moment they were over the doorless' entrance's threshold, "help me block up the door." Connor and Groo hurried over to Xander, and picked up the freezer between them, dragging the container sloshing with de-iced water into the doorway. "Thanks," Xander crouched by the fridge and peered out of the doorway before glancing towards Connor and Groo. "How about you shove some of those shelves across the staff entrance doorway?"

"Very well," Groo nodded as Connor joined the Pylean in grabbing the shelves and carrying them over to the door to the store's rear. "What is the plan?"

"Me and Besty," Xander raised his shotgun, "will -."

"I'm listening to the plans of a man who names his shotgun," Connor groaned.

"Hey!" Xander reddened. "You named your sword!"

Connor nodded sheepishly before defending. "Yeah, but I called my sword 'Justice's Will'. That's different!"

"Yeah," Xander nodded, "really, really pompous. I mean Dead-Boy Pompous!"

Groo groaned. "The plan?"

"Yeah," Xander glanced towards the Pylean before continuing, "I'll thin the pack when they come into gun range, any that make it through the windows," Xander glanced to the grime-covered windows to his left, "are yours and Connor."

"A simple plan," approved Groo, "do you think it'll work."

"I don't know," Xander aimed his shotgun, "but we're about to find out, they're here!"

* * *

Kate raised an eyebrow when Illyria halted and dropped the petrol cans. "Too heavy for you?"

"Curb your tongue." Illyria shot her one of her dead looks. "Lesser demons approach, I ready myself to deal with them."

* * *

Xander's blood chilled, memory flashing back to the day he'd fought one of these monsters hand to hand, a battle he would have lost but for dumb luck. Sweat formed on his brow as he forced himself to wait until the creatures were in range. "There's five of them," he tersely reported, finger rubbing impatiently up and down the trigger, "I won't get them all."

Then the derelict shop echoed to his gun's blast, one of the demons dropping to the ground in a bloody spray, but its companions continued on unabated. He pulled on the trigger again, grimacing as his shot went over the pack's heads. He forced his pounding heart under control and fired again, the head blasting off one of the remaining demons' heads. "They're veering off!" he yelled as he pulled the trigger again, catching the nearest demon in its rear flanks, dust billowing as it dropped to the ground. "They're going for the wind-."

The glass exploding inwards made his words obvious, but even as he ducked for cover, Connor and Groo, border-line Conanesque psychos they were, leapt to meet the two hellhounds.

Groo brought his broadsword down in a sweeping arc, blade cleaving through the howling monster's skull, its blood and brains spurting out everywhere, the demon dead before it hit the ground. For his part, Connor went for the dramatic as usual, dropping to his knees and sliding across the floor to meet his rival, sword flashing left and right to take its head off, the decapitated creature's momentum carrying it crashing into the far wall.

"Now that's settled," Xander rose and glanced out, relieved to see there weren't any more hellhounds lurking outside, "shall we head back?" Grabbing a handful of shells out of his pocket, he reloaded his gun.

These days you couldn't be too careful.

* * *

"Lesser-." Kate's questions died in her mouth and her blood froze when a trio of heavily-muscled, red-furred 'dogs' the size of small ponies burst around the corner and charged them, their growls filling the air. Her heart pounding, Kate lunged for her gun.

Her automatic was half out of its holster when the first two leapt at Illyria. Illyria's hands blurred out to catch the animals by their throats, effortlessly holding the two hundred pound wildly struggling creatures at arm's length.

Kate's gun arm was straightening, readying herself to fire when the third demon attempted to pounce on the resurrected Old One. Illyria didn't even look at the demon as she kicked out, the demon's head snapping to the side with neck-breaking force, the demon changing direction in mid-air and flying into a near-by building with enough force to bring its walls crashing down on the best.

Then Illyria drove the two demons' heads together with enough force to send blood and brains flying. "Not even a challenge," Illyira scoffed as she dropped the limp bodies to the ground.

"That was comprehensive." Kate blinked, the battle had taken less than a minute and Ol' Blue hadn't broken a sweat. Her power was terrifying at times, she was just glad she was on their side.

For now anyway.

* * *

"So everyone's okay?" Faith sighed at Xander's morose nod. Ever since civilisation's fall she'd been waiting for him to snap out of his depression, but no progress so far.

"And we've got plenty of petrol, enough to get us into Texas at least," Connor crowed.

"Wicked," Faith bounced a giggling Rex on her knee, knowing at least he was happy enough to take her love even if Xan didn't want it. "Then let's get on the road."

"What about those stories about people being mutilated and experimented on, we have to stop whoever's behind that," Kate protested.

"I hate to be pragmatic about it," Angel cut in, "but we have a bigger mission, the quicker we finish it, the quicker we can get back here and investigate."

Kate sighed then nodded. "Okay."

* * *

"Dead!" Amy screamed, eyes bulging in their sockets. "Dead! Dead!"

"I know," Ethan sighed, "I saw the same feeds as you."

"Dead! Dead!" Amy seemed oblivious to his comments, the Sunnydaler screaming on and on. "Dead! Dead! Dead!"

Ethan shook his head as his skull began to throb. "Dear, do you-."

"DEAD! DEAD!" Amy's screams intensified. "My pets dead! D-E-A-D!"

"Oh bloody hell." Ethan picked up an ivory-handled knife, its blade dirty with dried blood, and turned to face the clearly off the deep end witch. She might be a wildcat between the sheets, but nothing compensated for that headache. "Dear?" When the screeching woman appeared oblivious to his call, he stepped behind her and jammed his knife deep into her kidneys, his other hand going around her mouth. The moment her struggles ended he allowed her to drop to the ground.

"Ah," he looked around the quiet work room, a beatific smile in place, "peace at last!"


	10. Chapter 10

**FIC: After All Our Nightmares (10/?)**

"Home on the range!

Cowboys ain't gay!

Just a little strange!

That's what we say!"

Faith and Rex sang the song she'd taught him, the boy snuggled up into her side and wearing the white Stetson she'd found for him as they drove through Texas, the sun having set in the distance. "You're funny," her little buddy giggled.

"Funny like funny or funny like strange?" Faith glanced down at Rex, her glinting eyes meeting his mischievous ones.

"Both!" Rex giggled.

"Clearly the child is more perceptive than normal for a human of his years."

Faith glanced over her shoulder and glowered at an impassive Illyria. It was comin' to somethin' when Big Blue was makin' jokes at your expense.

"Faith!" Suddenly Rex let out a frightened scream, the boy pointing out of the window on his side.

For a second she couldn't see it, then she glanced into the passenger side mirror. "Ah fu-," her dark eyes widened at the trio of horsemen galloping up behind them, dirt kicked up by their pounding hooves. Faith glanced in her side mirror, grimacing as she saw the not unexpected trio on her side. "Xan, you and Kate get in your harnesses! We gotta trouble!" Faith glanced at Rex and forced a smile. "Good spot kiddo, now get your seatbelt on and hold on tight, 'kay?"

* * *

The moment the Slayer let out a cry, Kate and Xander were up and moving, clinging to the van's coldly metallic sides as they made their way to the van's doors and fastened themselves into the harnesses Xander had made and drilled into the van's sides as one of the van's many 'improvements'. "Ready?"

Her heart lodged firmly in her throat, Kate could only nod at Xander's query. "Okay." Xander looked towards Angel. "Captain HairGel?"

The vampire growled even as he pressed down on the remote control to the van's rear door, another creation of Xander's. The door's shut open, and Kate's ears thundered as she and Xander fired ruthlessly on the trio of gun-wielding horsemen racing behind their van.

Their bullets tore indiscriminately through both horse and rider, but although the horses went down in a bloody scream, the riders rolled free and struggled to their feet, their faces contorting. "Oh no!" Kate yelled. "They're vampires!"

"Lyle," Kate heard Angel growl, "Lyle Gorch?"

"Not him!" Xander groaned even as several vampires dropped back as the van speeded up. One tried leaping through the open van doors, but Angel met him with an uppercut to the jaw that put him down hard, the impact echoing through the van's floor, and then Connor finished him off with a stake through the heart. Another horseman leapt out of his saddle hands reaching for the van's roof as he attempted to swing into the van.

A plan that Kate ended with a blast to his face, the vampire's head exploding like a dropped over-ripe melon as he fell to the ground, his dust dissipating on the tarmaced highway, just in front of his remaining brethren, their horses lathered with sweat and nostrils flaring as they struggled to keep up with the van.

"Ah screw this!" Kate glanced towards Xander in time to see him lean back into the van, grab one of the petrol cans they had hooked against the wall, pull it off, and one-armed fling it into the road in front of the horsemen. Then his shotgun was up, his finger tugging on the trigger.

For an one-eyed man, Xander had a good aim, and his shells crashed into the jerry can with a marksman's glee. Fire exploded upwards, flickering flames engulfing the two nearest vampires, their screams filling the air as the horse of a third was unable to avoid running head-first into the flames. The other two vampires managed to pull back before hitting the flames, but in doing so were thrown by their rearing horse, dust billowing where they hit the road. "Put a fork in them," Xander slumped against the wall, sweat sheening on his face. "They're done."

* * *

"You knew that vamp?" Faith shook her head. "Damn, Fang. You have the coolest friends, don'tcha?"

"Did you ever meet Spike?" Xander queried. "Didn't that clue you in to the general quality of his vampire buddies?"

"Point."

Angel prized the brief warm look that passed between Faith and her somewhat estranged boy-friend, even if it came at his own expense. "Lyle never was much of a thinker-."

"Heh," Faith snorted, "the horses in the middle of the 21st century kinda clued us in there."

"Just a brutal bas-." Angel cut himself off with a glance at Rex. The boy was staring up adoringly at Faith and seemed to have come well through the fight, like he seemed to come through everything. He was a tough kid, but then he'd have to be to come through what was to come. "But he's not particularly smart or resourceful, I'd be surprised if we see him again."

"That's great but we'll have to turn into Dallas," Xander said, "I blew up one of our tanks fighting those vampires off."

"A wasteful exercise," Illyria intoned. "You should have let him take your head instead."

"Yeah?" Xander stared at the blue-haired Old One. "I'm glad you're here too."

* * *

Dallas Command

"There's been a report of a van heading towards town." He looked into his wife's eyes, waiting for more details. "Our sensors picked them coming in from Arlington, they'll be here in a hour." His wife paused again. "The sensor readings don't make much sense."

"Sense how?" he prompted.

"Well, according to our readouts," his wife passed him a printout, "the majority of the van's seven occupants read as human, but one's a vampire, one's an unidentifiable demon, and two, well two seem to be humans but with some inconsistencies."

Inconsistencies? He raised an eyebrow, it was lucky they'd been in town to pick up and test some new demon reading sensors when all hell had broken loose, better to be in the US than stranded in Africa or Asia. At least they were home. He glanced at the printout, eyes narrowing. "Okay, send one of our men with a dozen of our militia, make sure they're dead."

"Even the humans?"

"You said they're travelling with demons didn't you?"

* * *

The United States Marine Corps Designated Marksman Rifle was a piece of art, he mused as he laid on the roof of the four storey bank, his eye peeking through the telescopic sight as the van neared. It had a range of 600 to 800 metres, but he was only 350 metres away, and so his task was simplicity itself, a round through the van driver's head, the van toppled over, and the dozen militia he had hiding in the seemingly deserted street would catch the downed van in a murderous crossfire that would ensure nothing survived.

He forced himself to both relax and focus as the van came into view, peering down so he had a good view of the driver, his finger just stroking the trigger. There, he was in range, a well-built, black-haired man-.

The world seemed to slow then rush back to the date where he'd last seen that man. The years had been hard to him, even taken one of his eyes, and added some thick muscle to his gangly frame, but it was unmistakably him. You didn't easily forget someone who'd saved your life. Hands suddenly shaking, he released his grip on the rifle and yelled into his mouth-piece. "The mission is an ABORT!" he roared as he scrambled in the dust beside him to pick up his loud-hailer and yell through it. "XANDER HARRIS! THIS IS SGT. GRAHAM MILLER FORMERLY OF THE INITATIVE, PULL OVER! I REPEAT PULL OVER!"

Graham nodded as the van began to swerve, pulling over to the side. "Everyone move in, weapons cold, no firing, these are guests not hostiles," he ordered into the mouth-piece.

* * *

"Really Xander?" Riley's eyes scorched first Angel who stared stonily back and then Faith who seemed to shrink away even as she clung protectively to the child on her knee. At least she felt some guilt. "This is the best you can do?"

"Everyone here's more than capable in a fight," Xander defended.

"Oh," Riley glared at Angel, recalling the time the master vampire had summarily defeated him, even with the 'roids that Walsh had been secretly using on him, "I don't doubt it. But trustworthy?"

The sapphire-eyed man shifted in his seat. "A wise man would not impinge on the honour of-."

"Groo," Angel interrupted, seemingly at ease despite the armed militia members lining each wall. Of course Riley was honest enough to admit that if they fired, they'd kill Xander and the other humans, but Angel would more than likely be too fast, and as for Illyria, he'd read the files on her. "It's alright; Major Finn and I are acquitanted with one another."

"That's one way of putting it," Xander snorted. He seemed steady, less the joker than he remembered, focused with a core of darkness about him. But that was what one needed to survive these days. "How about your guards take some of the others to your canteen, and Faith, Angel, and I tell you why we're here?"

Riley hesitated before nodding. "Okay honey," he was surprised by the affection in Faith's usually belligerent tones, "I wanna you to go with Kate and the others, get something to eat."

"Wanna me to get you something?" the boy stared up adoringly at Faith.

The Slayer lifted the boy and kissed his slightly mucky forehead. "Please sweetheart."

Riley kept an impassive face as the others stalked out, but inwardly was rocked by the soft side of the supposedly hard as nails Slayer. "Your son?" he queried.

Crimson flushed in the woman's high cheeks. "Nah," Faith shook her head, "nothin' like that, just an orphan I picked up along the way."

Riley raised an eyebrow. He didn't buy a word of it, Faith the maternal type? "How did you end up here?"

Xander's query cut into his thinking. Riley glanced at Sam who nodded, then returned his gaze to Xander. He might as well tell him, it wasn't as if operational protocols and need to know meant a damn anymore. "My twenty-five strong unit were in Dallas, getting and testing some equipment for a black op in Panama when everything went down. Fortunately there were two other elite units with us when the fighting started. Even so, by the time we'd finished bringing the area under control, twenty-two of the seventy-five soldiers were dead as were any ranking officers, so I was left in charge-."

"Lucky them."

Riley ignored the urge to shoot the vampire. "So I've organised the local police and National Guard units into a militia protecting and policing the survivors from demons." Riley shook his head. "From over a million to just over a quarter of million in the first week. We've stabilised a lot since then as you can see from our defences, but I've had to be tough, enforce military discipline on a civilian population. Anyone who commits a minor crime gets exiled, a violent crime gets you hung." Riley paused, the weight of the past few years resting heavy on his shoulders. "Buffy?"

Xander's remaining eye went dead. "Anyone from Sunnydale who isn't here is dead."

"Ah," Riley nodded. He'd long since gotten past Buffy Summers, but he still thought of her, Willow, and Giles as good people, something that was a shortage in any world. "My condolences."

"You're saying," Riley noticed the vampire had stiffened, "you're the military governor of Dallas?"

"I wouldn't put it in those exact terms, but in essence, yes." Riley shot the suddenly paling Slayer a shark-like look. "Don't worry, I wouldn't waste my time." Angel and to his surprise Xander seemed to bristle at his contemptuous remarks to the Slayer, but he ignored that.

"Have you heard anything from the Crusade?" Angel queried after a moment of heavy silence.

Riley grimaced at the mention of the army run by former Marine General Hugh Cage. The man might be his superior officer, but in Riley's case he'd gone right off the deep end, a far from infrequent consequence of the new world. "He's sent men on a couple of occasions, but we're too numerous and organised for him," Graham said for him. "Given his numbers, he could take us, but he'd lose too many men doing it, it would be a Pyrrhic victory."

"A what?" Faith queried, smooth brow furrowing in confusion.

Sam smiled at Faith, a smile far warmer than the nutcase deserved. "Put simply, it means a victory gained at too great a cost. The phrase comes from King Pyrrhus of Eprius whose army suffered irreplaceable casualties in defeating the Romans during the Pyrrhic War."

"Cool," Faith nodded in understanding.

"We can handle any Carrion, Believers, or Allah's Fury who head here and given we've got enough supplies to last another five to seven years, we're doing okay at the moment. We're more worried about Project Praetorian, they're rumoured to be heading in this direction."

"Project what?" Xander queried.

"Apparently the military resurrected Dr. Walsh's research," Xander groaned mournfully, "and created cyborgs from a combination of deceased soldiers, cyborgs, and demons, who's only mission is to eliminate anything that doesn't match its definition of a perfect human-."

"And it's never found one has it?" Faith interrupted.

"No, anything they've faced, they've killed. Humans, vampires, Slayers, mages, demons, anything. There's less of them there was, but somewhere around half a dozen remain. If they reach here, we'll stop them, we're too well-armed and trained not to, but a lot will die doing it." Riley paused. "Why are you here exactly?"

Xander and Faith glanced towards Angel. After a second the vampire began talking, explaining about Rex and the other children. Once he'd finished, Riley glanced at Graham and Sam before continuing. "We can't help you with this Arc thing, never heard of it, but you can spend the night here, and take what supplies we can spare. I'm afraid you'll have to go everywhere with an escort, I can't guarantee your safety otherwise."

"Way to make someone feel welcome."

Riley raised an eyebrow at Faith's mutter. "Xander's always welcome here, some of his friends less so."

* * *

Lyle Gorch clambered out onto the porch of the shack that he and his now dead gang had called home, eyes widening at the three approaching dust clouds, the rumble of the ground telling him the dust was just the vanguard of cars. Lyle smiled. "I like tourists, tasty!" A few seconds later his eyes widened as the dust clouds neared enough for him to see the vehicles behind them, a trio of camouflaged, dark-windowed Hummvees. "Well that ain't right," he scratched at his head, a deep unease growing. He glanced left and right, but decided there was no point in running, there was nowhere to hide.

Then the military issue vehicles came to a halt surrounding him in a sorta triangle, the cars' occupants climbing out, all of them with one exception dressed in dark camouflage, the exception dressed in a finely-cut suit that looked like it had been made by the finest of tailors.

It was the exception who spoke, his voice hard as if used to giving orders. "We're the Irre-Nacht, who are you?"

Irre-Nacht. Time froze for Lyle as he realised that many of the vampires surrounding him surpassed him in age and power, and no wonder. Irre-Nacht hadn't been around for long, but they'd already built an unparalled reputation for cold-blooded efficiency.

"I asked you a question?" snapped the suited man.

"Um," Lyle wished he'd put on his goin' to town clothes to meet his visitors, "Lyle Gorch, sir."

"Lyle Gorch," the group's apparent leader, a short, powerfully-built man with a shaven head, cold grey eyes, and a lantern jaw, sniffed disdainfully. "Turned 1886, a tough brutal vampire," the man sniffed again even as Lyle preened himself, "but a stupid one. Gunn, kill him for me."

"Wha-."

Before he could finish, one of the men, a tall coon, had leapt forward and caught him with a jarring haymaker to the jaw. His head snapped to the side as he threw a retaliatory right hook that crashed into his opponent's forehead.

The other man grunted, but threw a left. Even as he readied his defence, he realised it was a feint, but too late to avoid a knee to the crotch. He groaned as pain shot through his balls, and attempted to twist away from his opponent, but the black bastard was relentless, catching him with a downward right to the cheek.

Momentum carried him crashing into the shack behind him, rotting wood shattering under the impact, sending him falling to the ground. Before he could move, 'Gunn' had torn a jagged piece of wood out of the remaining wall and was driving it through his heart.

* * *

Stark Jabo nodded approvingly as Gorch burst into dust. Gunn had skills, that much was obvious. Which was good, because Irre-Nacht didn't carry passengers, especially ones that'd hunted them when human. None of them were happy about having Gunn forced on them, particularly one so new to the Change, but he did have the advantage of knowing their targets, and if he proved himself worthy, so be it.

But if he failed, they'd been on him like a pack of wild dogs, ripping, rending, shredding until there was nought left.

"What next sir?"

Jabo to Suss Luge, the muscular, sharp-featured woman's eyes gleaming eagerly. "Well all know the reputation of Riley's Rangers," he said, "entering town is too dangerous, especially in the vehicles the High Council gave us, they're much too showy. We'll drive around the city's perimeter and pick up our targets' trail on the other side."


	11. Chapter 11

**FIC: After All Our Nightmares (11/?)**

Faith whistled as they drove through the deathly silent city, the roads thick with the usual refuse, abandoned cars and discarded, rotting corpses lining the streets, most of the shops and houses in various states of disrepair.

How in the hell were they supposed to come back from this?

Faith gave the little boy sat quietly on her lap a quick hug that was as much for her comfort as for Rex's, then kissed him on the top of his head. "You 'kay champ?" The boy nodded jerkily at her question, his drawn face suggesting he was as affected by the city's gloomy atmosphere as the rest of us. "Don't worry hon, I gotcha." Faith hugged him again.

Xander pulled the car to the right, down yet another street deserted of life if not evidence of those who had once lived there. "Parking lot to the left, honey."

Xander nodded, a bleak look in his solitary eye. "Saw it," Xander commented as he pulled into a walled lot that looked like it belonged to a two-storey, black-bricked gymnasium, the lot having half a dozen cars already parked in it.

"Are we stopping here for tonight?" Connor queried from the back.

"Yeah," Faith replied at Xander's slight nod. "Hey kid how 'bout me and you check out these cars, see if they have any petrol or shit worth scavenging in it?"

"Sure," Connor eagerly replied, but then the kid was always eager to spend time with her. Doin' apparently anythin'.

"Wicked," Faith passed Rex over to Xander, "you go with Xander honey."

"Awww, but I wanna stay with you."

Faith grinned at Rex's whine. "Don't even try, I'm an expert at that pout, kid. You're just a beginner. Uncle Xander will look after you." Faith looked over Rex's head to Xander. "Won't you?"

"Sure," Xander let out a long-suffering sigh, "do you want a piggy back, Rex?"

Rex nodded so hard Faith wondered if his head might fly off. "Uncle Xander, what happened to your eye?"

The boy dropped his verbal bomb with the guileless innocence of the young, Faith cringing in anticipation of the inevitable grumpy grunt or even worse angry snarl that these days accompanied anyone asking or noticing Xander's eyes. "That's what comes of running with scissors," Xander replied before taking Rex, lifting him over his head and onto his shoulders. "Come on little guy, let's see what's inside."

Faith laughed as she watched the two start towards the shadowed building. Maybe, just maybe, she and Xan could get somethin' back, re-connect through the little guy. 'Sides it did her guy good, Faith's lips quirked up into a smirk, playin' with someone his own age.

"Tomorrow we should go into the city and try and re-supply," Kate commented.

"Yeah," Faith nodded. "There's gotta be some stuff out there we can steal, scavenge, or trade for."

"A gymnasium," Groo mused. "A place where warriors train-." Faith snorted. Groo turned and looked towards her. "Am I in error, Faith?"

"If you think they're warriors, you ain't seen the preenin' pussies who used to use these places in the old days, oiled-up, muscle-rippling," Faith's voice trailed off as she stared into space.

"Gone to your special place, Faith?" Kate queried as she climbed out of the van's rear, hands full of their supplies.

"No," Faith shot the former cop a smirk, "but I was headin' there 'fore you interrupted me."

"Perhaps we can find a place to spar?" Groo suggested with a look at Angel.

"Maybe," the souled vampire replied.

* * *

"Hey Xan," Faith stalked across the lit-by torchlight gym and crouched down opposite her lover, throwing him a couple of health bars, "you were real good with Rex before."

"He's a great kid," Xander half-smiled as he lent against an over-turned bench, they were in the main gym, just inside from the stripped-bare reception area. "I can why you like him so much." A wistful look flickered across Xander's face, but was gone so quick she wasn't entirely sure she'd seen it. "I always thought I'd want kids when I got older."

"Well we could if you wanna," Faith's heart thumped with terror even as she made the suggestion. Fuck, her bein' a mom scared her near to pissin', but if it got her her man back, she'd do it. "I mean it could be fun, havin' a kid, right?"

"A kid in this world?" Xander shook his head, something like panic flashing in his eye. "No, no, that's be irresponsible-."

"And if we get this world sorted out, what'll be your excuse then?" hurt and anger filled her voice, turning it even more husky than normal. "Jesus, Harris! Haven't your balls dropped yet? If you don't wanna be with me any more at least be a fuckin' man 'bout it and tell me, so I know not to waste my fuckin' time tryin'!"

Alarm filled Xander' eye. "Faith-."

"Ah screw off!" Faith rose, yanked back on the leather jacket she'd started to pull off and strode through the darkened gym, and out into the reception area to where Rex was sat on the desk, Angel standing beside him, watching with sad eyes as Connor played with him. Probably remembering all those missed times with his own son, Faith surmised as she strode past the vampire. "I'm gonna go upstairs to have a look around," she declared.

Angel's eyes narrowed as he looked towards her. "Are you alr-."

"Fine, just my boy-friend's a grade A ass." Faith shook her head as she headed towards the steps, torch leading the way. "Not 'xactly news to you. Later!"

* * *

Shallow Graves traced his finger down the scar the little bitch had left him with, heart racing as he stared at the darkened building ahead of him. He'd swelled the number of members in his gang from just under twenty to thirty, and whoever was left after they'd killed her buds was going to take a turn in breaking the trash. He'd been already to kill her too, but that was too easy. No, she was gonna be left alive but wishing she wasn't.

Shallow Graves laughed lowly as he glanced at the others. "Rumour has it they have a vampire with 'em so we're going to go in fast and hard, three bikes through the-."

"Wouldn't it be best to leave the bikes behind and sneak up on them then," queried his second in command, a red-haired, emerald eyed man standing about six six with a lean but wide-shouldered body and a straggly beard, his leathers covered in a coat of dust.

Graves forced back the urge to strike at Brick for daring to interrupt him. "Nah," instead he shook his head and spat on the ground, "more than likely he'll still hear us coming and have more time to warn his buddies. We go in fast and hard, just remember. Not a hair on the brunette's head is to be harmed. I want that tramp in good condition when I start."

"But not so much when we finish!" laughed a craggy-featured Latino with a squashed flat nose and dark, haunted eyes.

* * *

Angel sighed as he watched his protégé stalk away before looking back towards the gym door, he could go and talk to Xander, heck shake some sense into him. But he also knew that him and Xander would never 'click' in the same way he'd managed to connect with Doyle and Wesley, that the youth would never listen to him, could never be made to realise how lucky he was to have an amazing, beautiful young woman who for some unfathomable reason idolised him.

Too much bloody water had passed under the bridge. He'd probably do more damage than good.

And of course there were other bigger problems, his gaze returned to his son and the child they'd been entrusted with. Like everyone's growing attachment to Rex. When the truth came out-.

"Uncle Angel!" Rex's eyes suddenly caught his. "Show me your fangs again!"

And there, his heart just about cracked into two.

* * *

Faith stopped at the gym's threshold and peered into the darkened room. While downstairs had served as the weights and aerobics room, together with the sauna and changing rooms, this room would have been what ol' Blue-Eyes had been thinkin' 'bout when he talked about sparring.

Faith half-smiled, two hunky men gettin' all sweaty and topless, she could go for that.

Her mood dipped as she thought of Harris. Head shaking, she strode into the gym and looked around, her torchlight leading the way. Faith coughed slightly as the dust coating the long-since abandoned room entered her lungs.

From what she could see, the place had probably been real well equipped back in the day. A disused boxing ring took centre stage in the middle of the gym, but there were spaces by its side where she guessed exercise mats had laid in case anyone had wanted to martial arts or wrestle spar, while heavy bags and speed balls hung down from the ceiling. There was no head gear, sparring shields, or gloves left behind, but she guessed looters had-.

Her eyes narrowed as she shone her torch over the counter by the door and illuminated a padlocked locker stood there. "Interesting," Faith muttered, excitement quickening her heartbeat as she one-hand hurdled over the counter. Either looters had missed this, or they hadn't had any bolt-cutters.

Fortunately for her, she didn't need any bolt-cutters, Faith grabbed the padlock's chain in her hands, braced herself then yanked her arms apart. Muscles rippled with the effort, iron rubbing against her palms, but then the metal snapped and the padlock fell to the ground between her feet, Faith leaping backwards as the door swung open, a gust of foul air racing out to escape.

"Score," Faith whistled as she leaned into the locker, her blood racing as she examined its contents. The guy who had owned the gym had clearly been a martial arts fanatic, a pair of kamas hung with a pair of gleaming sai blades and a pair of tonfas on the left and right walls, in addition to a stout looking bo hanging on the far wall beside a curve bladed katana, a surujin whip, and a deadly-looking Nunchaka, all packed in display cases and in great condition. There was even a gorgeous, red dragon war fan, its beauty belied by its iron edge. "All these goodies and it ain't even Christmas," Faith whispered then gasped as she reverently lifted the Nunchaka to find a leather bandolier with a quintet of Shurikens in it. "Oh fucking A." Faith grinned as her spirits lifted, who needed men when you had wicked toys like these to play with. This was the best selection of weapons she'd since the Fall.

Faith began eagerly opening each case in turn, lovingly examining the weapon before putting it back and starting with the next. In her heart of hearts she knew she'd have to share her find with the others, but she could revel in them first couldn't she?

"What the fuck!" Faith gasped as a huge hand grabbed her by the neck and flung her face first into the locker, Faith instinctively twisting so she hit it side rather than face on, her eyes widening with horror as she recognised the gargantuan monster standing almost two feet taller than her. Faith side-kicked at the giant, his ham-sized hand casually slapping her foot away. "You've made a big mistake attacking me like this!" Her fist uppercutted ineffectually into Towers' python-thick forearm as he grabbed her hair and slammed her into the locker wall opposite with enough force to crack the display case's glass, her own head splitting open. "My buds are downstairs!"

"I'm not worried about them!" Towers giggled as the roar of motor-cycles filled the air. "They've got problems of them own!"


	12. Chapter 12

**FIC: After All Our Nightmares (12/?)**

Xander looked up when the gym door opened, heart rising then dropping when it was Angel, Connor, and Rex who entered rather than the hoped for Faith. The toddler started in his unsteady way towards him, Deadboy and the spawn staying by the door. "Hey Uncle Xander!"

Xander forced a smile. "Hey Rexy, my main man." Pain stabbed at his heart as he was struck by the similarity between Jesse's and Rex's smile twenty-five years apart.

The boy giggled as he plopped down beside him and scooped himself up into the crook of Xander's arm. "Silly, I'm not a man, I'm a boy."

Xander smiled down at the boy. "My mistake."

"Uncle Xander can I ask you a question?"

"As long as it isn't about the theory of relativity, I'll give it a go." Xander laughed when Rex looked blankly up at him. "Go for it."

"You think Auntie Faith is pretty don't you?"

"She's the prettiest girl in the whole wide world." Xander tensed as he saw Angel glance over from his seat, the distance between them no barrier to the vampire having a ring-side seat to their conversation.

"Welllllllll," the boy drew out his next word as he seemed to gather the courage to continue his questioning. "Why don't you marry her and then you can be my new mommy and daddy?"

Xander's heart almost broke at the child's innocent questioning. He couldn't help but remember his own childhood when he'd wished Willow or Jesse's parents had been his rather the ones he'd been lumbered with and he couldn't help but wonder how many times Rex had asked others to be his parents. "When you marry someone you make a commit-, a promise, you know what a promise is don't you?"

Rex nodded. "When you say you'll do something, you have to do it."

"Yeah," Xander nodded. It was close enough anyway. "When you marry someone you make a promise to them to look after and be with them forever, but in the world today it's really hard to keep that promise. I wouldn't want to break that promise. But that doesn't mean me and Auntie Faith or anyone here, doesn't think you're a really special little guy."

"Even Illyria?" Rex queried.

"Even Illyria," Xander just hoped he wasn't asked to swear an oath on that one. "Is that okay, Rex?" Rex nodded. Xander gave the guy a hug.

"Rex, Connor has a game he wants to show you."

Xander glanced up, starting slightly at Angel's silent stalk to their side. Guy still needed to get a damn bell in his opinion. Xander spoke the moment he judged Rex was out of earshot, his voice low and angry. "Whatever you're about to say, don't. I'm not going to take advice off a man with a record in dysfunctional relationships that would make Jerry Springer drool."

"Humour me," Angel retorted, his face expressionless at Xander's comment.

"Humour?" Xander snorted as he glared at the vampire. "Never knew you had a sense of humour."

"I was considered the funny one amongst the Scourge of Europe," Angel replied.

"You're confusing funny with odd," Xander shook his head. "No wait, there was Dru, next to her you're positively normal. And besides, I never knew the Scourge were a troupe of travelling comedians."

"Yes, Xander," Angel huffed, "you did a great job leading me from the topic. But nevertheless, why didn't you tell Faith what you told Rex?"

"Butt out Deadboy," Xander's solitary eye hardened when the vampire just stood glaring down at him, "did you ever consider your perfect-," the lurking undead snorted, "protégé didn't give me a damn second to tell her anything?"

"I didn't see you chasing after-," Angel's head snapped to the door. "Oh no." Angel looked towards Connor. "Connor bring Rex over to Xander, you and I need to get out to the reception area."

"I hear them dad," Connor confirmed as he rushed over, the boy in hands.

"Hear who?" Xander's hand shifted inside his jacket to his Beretta hanging in the holster there, his complexion paling as he last of all heard the motorbikes' roar. "Ah hell."

* * *

"Ahhh!" Faith let out a pained cry as her head smashed into the display case again, her ears filling with a pounding that even drowned out the giant's high-pitched giggling. Blood dripped from her forehead and into her eyes as she clawed desperately at the bo hooked on the cabinet's rear wall.

Before she could yank it free, the giant yanked her out of the cabinet and flung her over the counter and into the nearest heavy bag, the collision's impact driving the air from her lungs and ripping the bag from the ceiling, it cushioning her landing. Faith stared up in disbelief at the crimson silhouette approaching her, fear chilling her heart, he couldn't be wholly human not with his power and durability.

* * *

Kate sighed and looked towards Illyria as the demon goddess rose from her perusal of a locker. "Yes I know," she wearily commented, "we probably won't find anything but-."

"Silence!" Illyria snapped as her gaze shifted towards the door. "Do you sense it too Pylean?"

Groo nodded uneasily. "Look!" Kate didn't much care for Illyria's power, she could only take being talked down for so long without snapping. "If I don't start-." Her eyes widened as her ears filled with the sound of motor-bikes.

"Angel and the others will hold the left entrance," Groo commented as he drew his broadsword, "the right entrance will fall to us."

"Great," Kate muttered as she pulled her automatic out, "I'm teaming with Conan and Xena."

* * *

Faith quelled the terror growing in her heart, nightmares were supposed to be scared of her not the other way around, reached under her to grab the heavy bag lying there and flung it at her approaching assailant while at the same time launching herself into a baseball slide at him, hand lunging inside her jacket for her pocketed knife. Towers' arm came up, contemptuously knocking the heavy bag away as if she'd thrown a teddy beat at him, but missed her slide-in until her knife was arcing down and into his chest-thick thigh.

"BITCH!" Towers bellowed as her K-Bar thrust into his thigh. Blood flew from her mouth when the giant caught her with a back-handed slap that knocked her away from him, but she leapt up into a crouch, glared at her opponent through narrowed eyes and leapt back at him like a mongoose goin' after a snake.

* * *

Angel was barely through the door, double-bladed axe in his hands when the first of the bikes flew through the reception area's entrance in a shower of glass, him and Connor forced to fling themselves to the ground behind the counter to avoid being repeatedly lacerated. And then he was up, axe swinging as he leapt towards the biker nearest the counter and lancing down to lope the man's head off in a single, bloody swing. Another was twisting towards him, hand dipping into his jeans for a revolver hanging there as Angel hastily drew and threw a knife into his throat, the biker falling backwards off his bike, the still slowing bike careering off to crash into the foot of the steps.

Then Angel was amongst the rest of the bikers, axe flashing from side to side as he ripped limbs from bodies and heads from torsos, always moving to prevent them from drawing a bead on him. He struggled to control his demon as he twisted left and right avoiding his enemies' far too clumsy counter-attacks, the stench of blood filling his nostrils and the back of his throat.

* * *

Towers caught her with a hammering right to the cheek that snapped her head around but she ignored it to land on the man's wide chest, legs stretching to grip to his torso as she grabbed his head, drove her head down, and into his nose, bone shattering with the impact. Faith's heart froze at the mastodon's wild cackle and then he had her by the neck, one solitary hand enclosing her neck as he flung her from him and to the ground. Faith hit the ground in a crouch, head swaying away from an attempted knee to the face, her hand shooting out to grab and twist the dagger in his thigh.

Blood gushed from the leg as the giant roared, pain lancing through her head as he grabbed her wildly-snapping mane and flung her to the mat. "Ahhh," Faith gasped as her rival caught her with a hob-nailed boot to the ribs before she had chance to roll out of the way. Faith looked up in time to see a brass-knuckled fist slam into her head.

* * *

They'd barely entered the corridor outside the locker room when the glass entrance exploded inwards, the stench of motor-oil filling the air. Illyria laughed as the tidal wave of bikers headed towards her. Soon it would be death's scent that filled the air.

Swords in hands, she stepped forward and flung her arms to the side, neatly decapitating the first two bikers through the entrance, headless corpses falling to the ground even as she swung her swords together, her honed blades slicing towards one another and through a third biker's neck, the man's head falling off in a bloody shower, his bike racing towards Illyria. Dropping her swords, Illyria grabbed the bike by its handles and flung it into the next three bikers racing in, skittling them, limbs shattering as they flew through the air.

* * *

Darkness threatened to engulf Faith as she fell on her back, but obstinacy or panic forced it away. Instead she kicked out at the massive man's crotch, her heart dropping when the man blocked her attack on his inner thigh, then swung down with another brass-knuckled punch that this time Faith managed to roll away from while ineffectually kicking at the giant's ankle.

"You're a dirty girl," Towers giggled as she crawled away on her ass, disbelieving eyes fixed on the monster of a man stalking her. "Just like momma, I gotta make all the dirty girls pay!"

"Jeez," Faith blinked as her head suddenly cleared, "and I thought I had parental issues." Faith kipped up to her feet as Towers suddenly raced towards her, sidestepping to the left and driving her heel into the outside of his knee. Towers stumbled this time, Faith sweeping in behind him to grab him in a triangle choke.

"Oh hell!" Faith gasped as the man grabbed her by her forearm and flung her overhead. "Air Faith!" Grabbing an overhead beam, she reversed her momentum and swung backwards, catching the giant feet-first in the face. Blood exploded from his face as he staggered backward, Faith landing in a crouch then leaping at him, under a haymaker to palm strike him in his throat. Towers let out a shocked gurgle then caught her with a forearm to the face that sent blood gushing from her nose and her eyes tearing with pain.

"Fuck!" Faith just barely managed to duck under a follow-up slap to the face, but unfortunately not the fumble at her chest that felt like the kinky asshole was trying to pull her tit off. Ignoring the pain racing through her chest, Faith resisted temptation to pull away and instead stepped into him, stomping her foot down on his shin and uppercutting into his throat.

Faith fell on her ass when Towers released his pinching grip, her body ravaged by agonising weariness and blood loss. The giant glanced towards the gym's entrance and hurried out through the window he'd entered through. Her heart leapt when Angel ran in. "Faith what happened?"

"Towers," Faith spat blood onto the ground, "he's stalking me." Faith felt a chill as she realised with grim certainty that Towers would be back. And she didn't know if even a Slayer could stop him.


	13. Chapter 13

**FIC: After All Our Nightmares (13/?)**

"How's your face Auntie Faith?"

Faith forced a smile despite the pain shooting through her battered features as she glanced down at the child snuggled into her side. "Slayer healing is totally five by five, hon."

"I hate him for hurting you!" Rex snapped.

Faith's smile became a little more genuine at the boy's outburst. "You gonna protect me?" Rex nodded. Faith leaned down and brushed her bruised lips against his forehead. "Thanks lil guy, but I can protect myself. You just concentrate on stayin' safe and all cuddly, you hear?" Faith ignored the pain in her ribs to give the nodding boy a hug. "Thanks sweetheart."

"If your ribs are distressing you I could hold the boy for you."

Faith raised an eyebrow at Illyria's offer. "Gettin' maternal are you?"

"Hardly," the goddess looked affronted at the very suggestion, "you are our second most effective warrior and should that child's wriggling increase your recovery time, and impair our effectiveness as a fighting force. Hand him over."

"No," Faith shook her head, "my lil buddy's alright where he is."

"I can't decide which one of you is least likely to get clucky."

Faith shot Angel a glare. "Do you wanna try gettin' a sun-tan?"

"What's clucky Auntie Faith?" Rex asked.

"Don't you worry honey, Uncle Angel is just bein' a smart-as-, smarty-pants."

Angel snorted. "Oh, good save."

* * *

"You know, you could always break up with her."

Xander cast Connor a baleful glare. They were driving through early-afternoon Tallahassee, the sun bathing the dirty city, Xander leaning against the van's tinted window as Connor drove. "Excuse me?"

"If you're not willing to commit to Faith, maybe-."

"Back off demon-spawn," Xander snapped. "First off, I'm not about to take advice from someone with the relationship experience of a monk."

"Not a monk-."

"Second off, don't think I've not noticed you eying my girl. Not that I blame you for it, you're only part-human after all and it can't be helped, but you're not exactly unbiased in this. Third, who the hell says I'm not willing to commit to Faith?"

"You do," the hybrid seemed unmoved by his anger. "By the way you act, push her away. If you're stringing her along, maybe you should just be honest with her."

"Back off buddy," Xander growled. "You don't have a clue what's going on, so stop trying to Dr. Ruth me." He'd lost everyone he'd ever cared for Jesse, Willow, Anya, Cordelia, Giles, Dawn, Buffy, he couldn't lose anyone else. He couldn't open his-.

"What the-." Connor let out an angry roar as the van's rear seemed to swing away from him, the vehicle letting out a protesting screech as it careered wildly down the road, side-swiping a lamp-post en-route to tilting and then crashing down on its side with bone-jarring impact.

* * *

Colonel Rogers peered through his binoculars as he laid on the roof, the bitter taste in his mouth marring his cold professionalism. As head of Axe-Wrath, he was normally hunting demons, bandits, or human sympathisers. Today's target, the target they were hunting were heroes that for some reason had angered Arc Control.

And had to die for it.

Rogers forced away his disdain to speak into his ear-piece. "The Chicken-House is over, Team Beta move in and make sure all the chickens are dead."

* * *

"The child cries for you Slayer."

"Ahhh, shit," Faith groaned as she awoke to find herself sprawled on the side of the van, blood filling her mouth, her head's dull ache now promoted to a raging agony. "What the hell?"

"It appears the van has been flung on its side," Illyria shoved Rex into her arms, a look of distaste on the blue-haired demon's face. "The boy fell from your arms when you were stunned, I caught him."

"Thanks," Faith nodded, then winced she hadn't as pain blazed through her head. "Is everyone okay?" She smiled when mutters greeted her query. "Anyone checked Xan and Conn out?"

"Now that you have the child I will endeavour to leave the van and see what caused our accident." Illyria seemed in her element taking control of the situation as she peered around the darkened van. "Vampire you will not be able to leave here. Slayer, you have the child. Groo and Kate, you are both uninjured?" The pair grunted affirmation at her query. "Then gather your weapons and follow me."

* * *

Illyria wrenched the door open, under the supervision of Xander the others had reinforced the van's windows and chassis, so the crash would probably have caused little damage to the van. Nevertheless, it would be an effort to right the van and check its mechanics for damage.

Illyria's eyes narrowed as she stepped out of the van ahead of her companions to see a trio of sub-machine gun wielding men sneaking up on their left, threading through the cars and refuse there in a vain attempt at stealth. Her gaze shifted to the right, noting another trio moving in from there. The odds were not good for her companions, the vampire normally would have no problem with bullets, but he couldn't leave the van to evade them, and the Slayer was similarly handicapped both by the child and her own injuries. "Kate, you have your rifle?"

"Yes," the cop whispered.

"Return to the van and use it on the three men to the right, I will deal with those to our left."

"What about-."

"Slayer, I cannot concern myself with your lover at the moment, one problem at a time." With that she raced towards the left trio. One of the men reached over the car he was crouched behind and lobbed a grenade into her path, but she was past it before it exploded, leaping over the car to kick his head off his shoulders, blood spraying the wall behind.

Illyria grabbed at the man's decapitated corpse as it fell to the ground, swung it around and flung at the other two men as their guns came up. The bullets tore through their companion's corpse as Illyria raced around its side, the two men far too slow in turning to face her, grabbed one by the throat and flung into the other, the two camouflage-wearing men crashing to the ground, easy prey for a pair of skull-crushing stomps. Illyria smirked as she glanced down at the discarded machine-guns. This time had amazing weapons, but more often than not lacked the warriors to-.

Pain exploded at the back of her head, knocking her to her knees.

* * *

"The Old One is down, confirm the Old One is down."

Rogers grimaced as he received the message, the report like ashes in his mouth, but he was a soldier, and it was his duty to obey, however distasteful or onerous the orders. "Delta Team, move in on the Old One to confirm, teams Alpha and Beta, keep the van pinned down."

"Understood, out."

Rogers peered through his binoculars grimacing as he saw dust fly out from the sniper positioned around the van. Once they'd dealt with them, they'd be able to fire a missile through the van, then move in to make sure the Slayer, vampire, and hybrid were all dead.

What a job.

* * *

Master-Sergeant Turner's heart thundered as he approached the prone body of the goddess, blood still leaking from the hole in the back of her head. "Target is down, repeat down," he muttered through his mike, his eye fixed peering through his FN 2000's scope, every step taking him closer, not even the presence of the two troopers flanking and three steps behind him comforting much. "I think she's dead."

"Then," his heart skipped a beat as the tiny blue-haired woman rose, "you are in error." His mouth opened as she covered the twenty feet separating them in a blur, but never managed to utter a syllable before her fist crashed in and through his throat, blood jetting out of his mouth.

* * *

The man hadn't even begun to fall before Illyria was tearing his gun from his hands and flinging it at the man to her right, the gun smashing through skull, brains flying everywhere as Illyria lunged at the man to her left, slapping aside his gun as the soldier back-pedalled while attempting to aim. Her hand thrust up and into the man's jaw, knocking his head back with enough force to snap his neck.

Illyria stopped and looked around as the third man joined his companions on the ground, a scowl creasing her face as she reached up to rub at her head where the bullet had gone in. Normal bullets never bothered her, she could only assume it was armour-piercing like some of the rounds the Slayer's lover carried.

However they'd managed it, their enemy had managed to bring her down, however briefly. "This cannot stand," Illyria muttered. It was time for their attackers to know the power of an enraged god unleashed.

* * *

"Eagle-Eyes, Pick-Up has gone dead, repeat, Pick-Up has gone dead, have you a visual on the Old One?" Cookson blinked as the Colonel's tension-filled voice crackled through his earpiece, but then adjusted his sniper scope from searching for those huddled and returning fire by the van to checking out the dropped goddess. His heart dipped and belly hollowed when rather than the expected corpse of the Old One, he was confronted by the unmoving bodies of his team-mates. "Eagle-Eyes, report damn it!"

Cookson started at his Colonel's snap, the senior officer's growl drawing him out of his shock. His mouth opened to answer the question.

And then an arm grabbed his jaw from behind, a knee suddenly jammed between his shoulder-blades. Before he could even think to react the arm was pulling back, the sinews in his neck ripping before his attacker's might.

* * *

Rogers' chest pounded as he raced down the building's shadowy stairwell, his throat dry in part from all the futile shouting he'd been doing into his mike, but mostly from the fear filling him. What had happened to his well-trained squad? How could one creature take them all out-.

"Huh!" Suddenly she was on the stairwell landing in front of him, head cocked to one side as she glared at him. Rogers brought up his shotgun only for the goddess to grab it by the barrel and tear it from her, flinging it down the stairs behind her. Rogers' fist came up and crashed into the woman's deceptively delicate features.

His blood iced when the goddess smiled at him. "I think not." A tenth of a second later and he was airborne, crashing into the dirty wall behind him, dust billowing as his head impacted with sturdy stone, lights briefly flaring before his eyes. Disbelieving eyes fixed on the advancing demoness, he reached a trembling hand into his belt and drew his K-Bar.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

The demon slammed a foot down on his forearm, bone shattering like kindling beneath her attack. Then her hand was around his throat, the half his size girl effortlessly lifting him off the grimy floor and shaking him until his teeth jumped. Then he was airborne again. "Ohhhh!" He groaned as his head cracked against the wall again, the pain unimportant next to the pain that exploded in his right shoulder.

He hit the floor face first, nose cracking and blood bursting forth from his mouth as the goddess watched, eyes impersonal like a scientist watching a lab rat. Then she leaned over, grabbed a hold of his collar and yanked him to his feet. "Come, it is time for you to meet those you would kill."

* * *

"Ask him your questions." Illyria flung the battered man to the entrance of the van.

"Hey, I'm gonna take Rex somewhere, clean him up 'fore things get rough, 'kay?"

Angel looked towards the Slayer and nodded. "Xander, go with her, and take your weapons."

Faith sniffed. "Like we'd forget after this shit. Come on lil guy," Faith kissed Rex on his forehead. "Let's find a bathroom or somewhere to clean those cuts, hey?"

Angel turned back to Illyria the moment Faith, Harris, and Rex had disappeared. "It's still light out," he complained, "you'll have to throw him in here."

Illyria grunted. "My patience has limits vampire-."

"Don't we know it," Connor snorted.

Illyria shot his son a hard glare as she reached down, grabbed the barely conscious man and flung him into the back of the over-turned van. Angel's eyes widened as the man hit the ground inside the van, belatedly recognising his clothing as khaki. "A soldier." His hand grabbed the man around his throat, lifted, and slammed the man into the side of the van, his fangs flying out in his rage. "Are you a member of The Crusade?"

"No," the man gurgled, face bluing as Angel's fingers crushed his throat. "No."

"And why should I-."

"No arm-band dad," Connor suddenly commented. "Don't all those Crusade nutjobs wear an armband?"

"Yeah," Angel nodded. They'd had a couple of run-ins with The Crusade, a private army set up after the fall by a fanatical General. The arm-bands weren't a firm rule, but the man's gurgled utterances smelt like the truth. "Who sent you?" The man stared at him, his eyes resigned. Angel kept his gaze on the man as he continued to talk. "When it comes to torture," he grabbed the man's good arm at the wrist, "I'm kind of an expert."

"AHHHH!" The man arched when Angel yanked, brutally dislocating his good arm. Angel looked on the man then shook his head at his defiant glare. He had to respect the man's resolve, but he had just tried to kill them all, and this was long past the time they could play nice about such things. "GODDDD!" The man screamed when Angel squeezed his wrist until it shattered like it was in a vice. "The Arc, the Arc sent us."

Angel exchanged a shocked look with Connor. "Isn't that a kick in the pants?" his son commented.

Angel returned his gaze to the soldier. "Why?"

"Don't know," the greying man replied.

"Where is the arc?" Angel demanded.

"I've no idea," the man groaned, his breath coming in pants. "I've never been there, I just get orders via radio."

"He lies," Groo said.

"No," Angel's eyes met the soldier's, "I'd be able to smell and hear -."

"Enemies approach," Illyria imperiously interrupted.


	14. Chapter 14

**FIC: After All Our Nightmares (14/?)**

"I think I wet myself Auntie Faith."

"That's alright baby," Faith forced a smile at Rex's small voice, the embarrassed kid probably thinkin' she was gonna hit him or somethin'. Well she wouldn't, she wasn't a nasty hard-faced cow like her mom. "That got wicked scary back there." Faith glanced towards Xander. "Uncle Xander probably did the same." She grinned at Xander's pantomimed check of himself. "You brought a change of the kid's clothes, right?"

"They're in the rucksack." Xander nodded as he followed her into the cluttered passageway leading to the toilet. The toilet itself stunk of stale air and arid piss, its walls graffitied. Thankfully there weren't any corpses or half-eaten bodies spewed out on the floor.

"Wicked," Faith looked around the darkened toilet and turned on the taps, water rasping out. "Let's get you changed little guy."

Faith had barely finished washing herself and putting a dressing on a cut on her left side, caused when the van's window had imploded inwards when she heard somethin' outside. Skin crawling, she tugged her wifebeater back on, the shirt still damp with blood, and looked towards Xander. "Hon, keep a hold of the little guy, I think," she picked up her sword and started towards the door, "there's someone-. SHIT!" A curse exploded from her mouth as the door flew open, a gigantic demon charging in.

Sight birthed reaction, her sword snapping up with lightning speed, thrusting diagonally up and through the demon's throat before it had taken a further step. Blood jetted out of the back of the creature's neck, Faith twisting left and right to avoid its swinging, death-throes haymakers, Rex's frightened wails audible in the background.

The demon's legs suddenly folded under it, sending crashing into the wall, then bouncing off to crash to the ground, dust billowing at its landing. Faith spun around and put a finger to her mouth. "I know you're scared little guy, but we need to be quiet, kay?" Faith forced a smile at Rex's nod. "Everythin's gonna be five by five."

"You noticed it was a Jhe demon?"

"Hard not to," Faith answered before lookin' out of the window. "You take point, I'll look after the little guy."

"Okay," Xander passed Rex over then lifted his shotgun. "Let's go."

* * *

Faith forced herself not to dump Rex in Xander's arms and race to the others to check on her idol. Her heart thundered with every cautious step but eventually they reached the van to find it turned back onto its wheels, a quartet of Jhe corpses lying around it. "Everyone five by five?"

"We survived," Illyria commented. "However the van requires repairs."

"Yeah," Xander nodded before looking towards Groo and Connor, "we'll get on it."

"Wanna crank the hood, let me have a look at the engine?" Faith offered as she handed Rex into the van to his Uncle Angel. As a budding teen, she'd spent a lot of time around grease monkeys who'd show her just 'bout anythin' to get into her pants. Faith peered into the van, brow furrowing. "What happened to the soldier?"

Angel shot her a bleak look. "A Jhe demon got in here, he didn't make it."

* * *

Connor looked across at his dad when Angel pulled the van up into a parking lot in downtown Miami. "Why are you stopping?"

"I'm seeing signs of life, people have been around here recently, maybe even living in the area," Angel replied.

"So?" Connor queried.

"So," Kate answered for Angel, "if we're going to find this mystery kid, we need to make contact with the locals."

"Oh, I just know I'm not going to like this," Xander complained.

"You all start walking through the town, seeing if you can attract anyone's attention, Illyria and I will shadow you, acting as back-up if anyone turns up."

"Yep," Xander nodded mournfully, "right again."

"Uncanny really," Faith comforted her boy-friend with a pat on the shoulder.

* * *

"Don't you recognise him?"

"Should I?" Toni queried, heart thudding as she watched the party stalking through their devastated city's darkened streets, eyes taking in every detail, including the weaponry they carried.

"That's Xander Harris!"

"Why?" One of their companions snorted. "Plenty of people are missing an eye."

"I worked with Ms. Lucas, remember!" replied the first speaker. "Her girl-friend, Ms. Rosenberg, had a photo of him, her, and Ms. Summers when they were all at school. He had both eyes then, but it's him!"

"Yep, and he's an even bigger pain than the legend says."

Breath hitched in her chest as she spun to face the quietly mocking speaker who'd somehow managed to sneak up on her. "Relax," the man, no make that the vampire, snatched her crossbow away, "we're not going to hurt you."

"Yeah sure," Toni started forward, only for her legs to buckle under her when a blue-haired woman slammed a right into her jaw, "ooooof!"

"Illyria, I said relax." The vampire shot her companion a pained glance. "Why does nobody ever listen?"

"I could list a litany of your mistakes to explain if you wish, vampire?"

"Yeah, let's not bother with that." The vampire raised his hands in supplication. "Look, my name's Angel-."

"Angelus," Toni hissed in horrified recognition.

A shadow flickered over the undead's handsome features. "I really prefer Angel these days."

"We're not here for your christening Dead Boy," the afore-mentioned Xander Harris strode into view, "after all, Holy Water isn't exactly what the Avon Lady ordered for your skin."

"You're human," Rita hissed as the blue-haired woman held her back, "and you're working with that!" Rita shook her head. "Ms. Lucas would be so pissed-."

"You knew Kennedy?" the man's single eye darkened. "I wouldn't presume to know what Kennedy and Willow would think, not when you're talking to me!"

Rita gulped and cast her eyes down at the ground. "No sir, sorry sir."

"No I'm sorry," Xander shook his head. "I shouldn't have shouted."

"Xan," a devastatingly beautiful brunette with a kid in her arms spoke up in a husky east coast voice, "you gonna introduce us all?"

"Uh, sure," the one-eyed man nodded.

Toni listened dazedly as the former Scooby talked. Not just Xander Harris and Angel, but Faith Lehane too? This was like having three of the four Beatles or another of those really old bands their mom and dad were always talking about, in front of you, live and in living colour.

The moment Harris had finished speaking, Faith spoke. "So how 'bout it? You got any kids that might fit the bill? Born on the night everything went to-," the beautiful Bostonian glanced at the boy nestling in her arms and then back at them, "everything went bad-."

"I wonder what she was going to say?" muttered the boy that had been identified as Angel's son, since when could vampires could have kids she had no idea.

The brunette shot the boy a scorching glare before continuing. "And has a name that's something to do with kings or stuff?"

Toni opened her mouth to say 'no', when Angela, a black girl from Georgia spoke up, her voice filled with excitement. "Why mercy, that sounds just lika little Aletta Koing, ma Watcher," Angela's voice hitched, probably remembering the day her Watcher had had his throat torn out by a were, "said -."

"Koing is German for king," Angel finished.

"Yeah, that's right!" Angela nodded eagerly.

Toni sighed inwardly. Already her friends were forgetting just what the demon was. "You can't have her," Toni declared. She shifted uncomfortably when everyone's eyes turned to her. "She's one of us-."

"It'll be one less mouth for you to feed," Xander pointed out with a smile.

"It's whose mouth she'll be going into that worries me," Toni fired back.

"I prefer girls a little older." Everyone stopped and stared at Angel. "You know if I was actually evil."

"Ever thought not talking might be a good look for you?" Xander queried.

The vampire nodded mournfully. "All the time, but you people are always telling me I should open up more."

"Not me, you're bad enough as you are," Xander retorted. "We don't need you turning Dr. Phil on us."

"That cat's just evil," Faith agreed before looking towards us. "No-one's hurting MY kids, no-one, they're gonna save the f-freakin' world."

"Okay," Toni nodded slowly, trusting Mr. Harris and Faith if not the vampire.

"So how do you people survive around here?" Xander changed the subject.

"We got lucky, sorta. As you know there were nearly twenty Slayers based in the South just before you know," Toni grimaced at the foul memories. "We lost Tennessee\Kentucky straight off the bat, but the Georgia team minus one of their Watchers, and Louisiana\Mississippi team minus a Slayer and a Watcher managed to get down here and reinforce us. Since we've been down here, we've managed to organise a militia and hold the city."

"You've done well." Toni felt an unexpected surge of pride at Xander's quietly delivered praise. Maybe that was how his legend had grown, he didn't need a marching band or fireworks display, just a few words was enough.

"How many of you are there?" Angel queried.

Toni shot the vampire before reluctantly answering. "Originally there was eighteen Slayers and eight Watchers posted in the South. After the attack there was twelve Slayers and five Watchers, now there's two Watchers and eight Slayers." She grimaced. "We've built a network around the city, but it's still hard."

"'Tis only in battle that a warrior's true mettle can be revealed," ruminated the Groo.

"Rrrright." Toni shook her head. If it was down to her, she'd rather not have had her mettle tested like this at all.

* * *

Toni looked around, her heart in her throat as she watched the advancing group of vampires. Two nights had passed since Harris and his gang had left Miami with Aletta. Since then the city had been quiet, but these new vampires looked different than the run of a mill bloodsucker, more serious, professional.

Quelling her trepidation, Toni selected a target, a tall shaven-headed black man to the group's right, then moved, her lunge out of the shadows the signal for the others to make their move.

The vampire spun to meet her, pulling his head back and away from her swinging left while simultaneously gliding forward to kick at her front right ankle. "Haaa!" Toni squealed, pain flaring through the joint as she stumbled, almost falling into the refuse stacked high on the pavement.

Recovering quickly, she came back in, right-hand stake driving into the demon's chest. Her eyes widened as the stake splintered on the man's chest. The demon smirked down at her even as his fist crashed into the side of her head. "Kevlar vest," he explained as his follow-up uppercut snapped her head back.

Blood bubbled in her mouth as she fought back dizziness to sidestep a thrust-kick, hook her rival's leg under the knee and shove up, aiming to flip the asshole onto his back. Her eyes widened as he used the momentum to launch himself into the night air and into a spin kick she barely managed to duck under before straightening and driving a hastily drawn knife into the demon's thigh.

The vampire's grunt was the only clue she'd struck home, but before she could pull her blade back, his fist smashed into her left eye, shattering the orbital bone. Colours flared in her eye as she slapped away the demon's follow-up attack then launched herself forward.

The demon flinched back then righted himself, slamming her own knife in and through her throat.

* * *

Jabo smirked as the last of their four attackers, all Slayers, fell before looking towards Gunn. "You killed a Slayer on your own?" Stark Jabo queried.

"Yeah, that I did," Gunn smirked back at him, the girl's blood streaked hair clasped in the black's hand, her limp body sprawled on the dirty ground, lacking the grace that she'd possessed in life.

Jabo raised an eyebrow. So young and yet he'd already managed to kill a Slayer, Gunn's usefulness increased by the second. "Then you shouldn't waste time, drink her while her blood's still warm, you'll find none tastes as fine as a Slayer."

And soon he would drink from Lehane.


	15. Chapter 15

**FIC: After All Our Nightmares (15/?)**

Atlanta, Georgia

"Daddy comes he comes for his darling girl he does!"

"Huh, all I care about is getting my hands on Harris. All the jokes he made about me, I'll show him!"

* * *

Atlanta, Georgia

"You and Rex play together, kay?" Faith patted Aletta on her head, the blonde toddler beaming up at her as she set Rex down beside her in the back of the van and climbed out. "You stay here, you hear?"

Faith forced a smile at the kids giggled yeses. They were a pair of angels that was for damn sure, but even two well-behaved kids brought with them a number of problems. Someone always had to be watching them, meaning they had one less person to patrol, run guard duty, forage, and all that shit. Plus kids needed more vitamins and stuff than grown-ups, then there was keepin' them occupied.

"What ya thinkin' 'bout Auntie Faith?"

Faith grinned as she glanced over her shoulder to see Rex standing behind her, a GI Joe figure that Xander had found for him clasped in his hand. "I'm thinkin' what a little sweetie you are, now you play with Aletta, and share, you hear?"

"Sure Auntie."

"You do well with them."

Faith glanced at Kate as she climbed out of the van, the kids' giggling behind her. Fuck, she could work with Kate while the others were around, but when she wasn't, all she could think was she was the jailbird and Kate was the pig who'd put her inside. Never mind cops had taken plenty of chances to abuse their authority over her when she'd been a Boston street kid.

Definite trust issues.

"I know what kids need," Faith shrugged, not bothering to add her knowledge came from never getting the love and attention she'd always craved as a kid.

"Well they've certainly bonded with you," Kate praised, the blonde, that was another reason for disliking her, looking as uncomfortable as she felt about this conversation but gamely trying to continue.

"Must be my natural charm," Faith joked, "I'm practically magnetic."

Kate half-smiled before sobering. "Well we've got two of them now, all we need is the third."

"You're forgettin' we don't even know where this damn arc is," Faith commented.

"Oh," Kate scowled, "yeah, that."

The two of them fell silent for a moment. Kate spoke before she did. "I hope the others find some supplies, we're running low on stuff, and the van could do with some repairs."

"Yeah," Faith nodded as she peered into the darkness surrounding them. "there's so few people left now, you'd think there'd be more shit just hanging around."

"Yeah," Kate brandished the shotgun she had cradling in her arms. "I could always do with more ammo."

* * *

Angel peered around the darkened sporting goods store as he climbed through its shattered window, glass tinkling underfoot. These places were usually stripped bare, but you could occasionally get lucky.

Especially when partnered with a half-human, half-goddess demon more than capable of ripping a safe apart with her bare hands. "I will check the residence upstairs," Illyria commented before striding off to the rear of the store.

"Sure," Angel grunted. He'd long since given up any illusion of controlling the arrogant goddess, his only hope was that he at least managed to contain her more savage impulses.

Although at times even that hope seemed vain.

Angel sighed as he made his way through the dusty, dark store, senses ready for the slightest hint that someone was squatting here. He didn't intend to fight anyone for ownership of the store unless completely necessary, but he wasn't about to offer his head up as sacrifice either.

Angel crouched by a downed cabinet searching through the shattered glass and broken wood to see if anything of use had been left behind by the looters. He stiffened and rose, turning to face the presence he'd sensed behind him. "Drusilla," he greeted, his voice raw with pain. His eyes narrowed as he glanced at the slight blonde beside his childe. "That reference I gave you not get you a job, Harmony?"

"You wrote 'dumb as dirt' and 'more fake than a 3 dollar bill!" screeched the undead Sunnydaler. "I've never had work done."

"Angel-daddy, nasty soul needs to float away, what funs we could have! What giggles!" Drusilla cackled.

"My soul's staying put thanks." Angel shook his head, age old guilt making him weary and feel every day of several centuries age. "Let's get this over with Drusilla."

The vampire hissed then leapt at him, dark locks billowing with her leap. Angel's hand swung up, the piece of glass he'd secreted there from the cabinet's remains slashing through Drusilla's neck. "I'm sorry," he whispered as he met his childe's shocked gaze, the vampiress exploding into dust.

Angel looked around. "Damn it," he grunted as he strode to the shop's exit and peered out to see no sign of Harmony. He shook his head. One day, one day, he'd deal with her too.

"There was a vampire here was there not?"

Angel glanced over his shoulder to see the goddess climbing down the steps with her usual uncanny bird-like grace. "They've been dealt with," he grunted. "Next place."

* * *

Harmony shivered as she made her way through the deserted streets, rubbish packed high. Two nights had passed since Angel had killed Drusilla, but she remained wary in case her former boss was hot on her trail. "Angel is such a traitor!" she fumed. "So he has a soul, big whoop!" Harmony shook her head. For the past few years Drusilla had been her protector, without her to look after her, Harmony didn't know what she'd do.

So they killed people, big whoop. Didn't give Big Broody the right to kill her. What did he think he was, a cop or something?

Harmony stopped and crouched as she sensed something approaching. Dropping into a crouch, she backed into an alley and hid behind a battered dumpster.

Her eyes widened as she saw a group of vampires striding through the darkened street, many of them very powerful, and all moving with a cold purpose. Maybe they could protect her. Hope rose in her undead chest as she recognised one of the men, she'd always thought he was hot in a Denzel kinda way.

Leaping up, she started out to greet the group. "Gunn!" she threw her arms open and raced towards the black demon. "It's been so-."

Her mouth opened in a betrayed oof as her fellow vampire drove a stake into her chest. Did every vampire have a soul these days?

* * *

"Did she know you?" Jabo raised an eyebrow as he inspected his new recruit.

Gunn shot him a hard smirk. "She knew the old me, not the new improved version. Stupid bimbo probably thought I'd protect her or something." Gunn made a show of wiping the blonde's dust off himself before continuing. "She was a nothing."

"I could tell that from the way she ran headlong onto your stake." Jabo snorted before looking around Irre Nacht. "Spread out, see if you can see any trace of the targets. Failing that, find us some food. I grow tired of packaged blood."

* * *

Charlotte, North Carolina.

"Whoooo!" Xander said as he climbed out of the back of the van, darkness already cloaking the creepily silent city.

"What?" Faith queried as she climbed out behind him, the two toddlers cradled in her arms seemingly moulded to his girl-friend's torso.

Which Xander admitted was his favourite place to be moulded to, Rex was going to grow up very disappointed when he found out most girls weren't built like Faith. Xander smiled. "That's what the Nature Boy said whenever he came home to Charlotte, so I'm saying it for him."

Faith shook her head, full lips pulling up into a reluctant smile. "You are such a dork."

Xander grinned at the accusation. "What does that make you dork-dater?"

"You don't wanna be pointin' those sorta things out," Faith warned. "Girl might have second thoughts."

Rex stared round inquisitively. "Is the Nature Boy a friend of yours Uncle Xander?"

Xander grinned at the boy. "Kid, one day when this mess is all sorted and I've found myself the world's biggest collection of wrestling DVDs, I am gonna introduce you to the magnificence that is the greatest ever professional wrestler."

"Yeah," Faith shook her head, "definitely a dork."

"Wow!" Rex looked from him to Faith, eyes widening. "Doesn't that sound fun, Auntie Faith? Don't you wanna watch with us?"

Faith threw her head back, a laugh bubbling out of her. "How can I refuse that hound dog expression, sweetie. What do you think Aletta?" The girl, still shy around them, nodded quietly. "Looks like we're all in-."

"Faith!" Angel's snap interrupted their moment, one of far too few they'd had recently. "All of you get back in the van!"

Such was the urgency in the vampire's voice, Xander was in the van before he even questioned him. "What's the what Deadboy?"

"Remember those cybernetic life-forms Riley warned us about?" Angel replied as the van roared off before they'd even time to sit, Xander sprawling to the ground while his infinitely more graceful girl-friend retained her footing. "I sense them coming, and coming fast."

* * *

Angel jammed down hard on the accelerator as he raced away from the pursuing Praetorians, dust scuffling up beneath their tyres as they screeched away, litter flying in their wake. "If they don't have hearts to you know hear, how can you sense them?"

"Movement!" Angel shouted in answer to Xander's bellowed question. "They're really heavy-footed and it's because of the lack of heartbeat I noticed them." Angel grimaced. "And they're getting louder."

"Louder means closer, right?" Connor queried.

"I ache for a battle," Illyria commented.

"Hold on Xena, we're out-matched here," Angel muttered as he yanked the van around a left corner.

"Whoaaa!" Faith yelped from the rear.

"Sorry!" Angel roared as the van swung up onto two wheels, the van's engine screeching in protest as they rounded the corner.

"Dad-."

"I know son," Angel grinned tightly. "Fortunately I have a plan." Angel hit the headlamps, turning them on full as he grabbed the car's horn and squeezed, its enthused honking shattering the night.

"Deadboy!" Xander yelled over the kid's sobbing. "Are you trying to make it easy for them to track us?"

"I'm hoping the family of Minatours I sensed a block ago also hear me," Angel explained.

"That's your idea of a plan?" Connor yelped. "Bait us in a trap and hope the two sets of predators get distracted fighting over us?"

"You're a freakin' idiot!" Xander hollered.

Angel didn't bother with a defence, he was too busy yanking his wheel to the left, whiplashing the van around an exploding wall, bricks crashing off the van's side as half a dozen hulking Minatours charged through it, red eyes searing through the darkness.

"Anyone else think they're probably not vegetarian?" Faith queried.

Angel smirked as he glanced into his side mirror in time to see several shadowed forms crash into the demons and go down in a swirl of blood, dust, and violence. "My plan worked, Xander," he gloated.

"Dumb luck."


	16. Chapter 16

**FIC: After All Our Nightmares (16/?)**

Queens, New York

"Wow," Xander peered out of the van's window, noting the shops with boarded up windows, the abandoned cars, the graffitied walls, and refuse littering the street, "Queens is kinda rough."

"Lover," Faith snorted, "this wasn't a postcard even before the troubles."

"Are we gettin' another kid, Auntie Faith?"

Faith grinned down at Rex sat beside her. "You like the idea of another rug rat, lil buddy?"

Rex stared up thoughtfully at her, then nodded. "Will it be a boy or a girl?"

"Don't know, hon," Faith admitted before glancing to the van's front. "How about it, Angel? What's the word?"

"My guess is, it'll be one or the other," Angel replied before shrugging. "The prophecy's not exactly clear on anything except their name will be a variation on the word 'king', they'll be three years old, and in the care of rebels."

"Queens is a big place, dog," Faith pointed out.

Angel shot a glare over his shoulder. "Sorry, my GPS isn't working-."

"You sure dad, because you and technology?"

Angel ignored his snarking son. "And even if it was, we don't have any co-ordinates for the local resistance's den."

"Jeez," Faith glared at the vampire, "not gettin' any really makes you testy don't it?"

"Getting any what?" Rex wondered aloud. "Does Uncle Angel wanna share my chips?"

"Don't you worry sweetie," Faith grinned down at the kid as the others snorted "You just eat 'em up." Faith peered up at the vampire. "So what's your plan, drive around to someone notices us?"

"That's about the size of it," Angel admitted.

"You realise of course that any rebels aren't going to exactly be happy to see a vampire and demon goddess?" Xander queried.

"Then it's lucky we've got you to protect us then isn't it," Angel rejoined.

"Heh, protect you?" Xander snorted. "I know how they feel."

* * *

Faith grinned down at the two kids sleeping in her arms even as she considered the possible future. Looking after one was fun, two a trip, but three would test the stamina even of a Slayer and man, having triplets? Faith almost laughed out loud at the very thought. Sounded more frightening than a shopping trip with Queen C or bein' passenger in a B driven car.

"Barricade just ahead," Angel muttered, "couple of street lamps lying across the road."

"Can you drive over them?" Kate queried.

"I could," Angel slowed to a halt, engine still running, "but if it's an ambush by survivors, we'll finally get some questions answered."

"And if it's a demon trap?" Xander queried.

"Then that would be unfortunate for them," hissed Illyria.

"Oh goody," Xander grunted. "Still angling for that Nobel Peace Prize, I see."

Faith snorted before handing the kids over to a bemused looking Groo. "Conn, Xan, you're with me, Kate cover us. Fang, you and Illyria don't get involved unless it turns out to be a demon trap."

The cold, dry wind whistled up the deserted street, scattering the empty packets and newspapers littering the dusty street as Faith climbed out of the van's rear, watchful eyes skirting left and right, peering into the shadows and seeing nothing there.

Which of course meant the damn darkness was filled with snarling, growling demons drooling at the thought of getting the opportunity to rip a bunch of humans apart. "'Kay, Xan, you and Conn shift the right pole first and then the left. I'll stay on guard." en Superman can fight the truth."and snorted. ere'ar side and doing the same.g at the thought of getting the opportunity tXander shot Faith a questioning look. "Don't you think anyone watching will notice something's up if I start throwing around these heavy poles?"

"Plus," Xander muttered as he squatted at the far side of the pole and worked his arms under the heavy pole, Connor squatting at the near side and doing the same, "for a super-powered heroine you sure are lazy when there's manual work to be done."

"Heard that honey," Faith warned.

Connor looked over his shoulder at her and smirked. "Not even Superman can fight the truth."

Faith shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Just get on with-." Faith spun as she sensed something moving in the shadows behind her. "On the other hand don't."

"This is the Jagged Edge's territory, bitch!" Faith rolled her eyes as she turned to find half a dozen thickly-built, bandana-wearing and machete wielding men making their way out of the shadows. Bitch? That was like so original. "Turn over everything you have and we'll let you live!"

"We have a counter offer," Faith said as the van's rear doors opened and Kate stepped out carrying a shotgun, and Angel swung open the passenger door and stepped out, "take us to your leader."

"I'm so jealous." Faith looked towards Xander. "I always wanted to say that."

"Dork."

* * *

"You wanna for us to give you one of our kids?" The heavy-set black spat on the floor as he continued to dead-eye Angel, the other rebels having led them to the underground basement of what had been a now-empty convenience store. "You too lazy to find your own kills?"

Angel sighed at the not unexpected and not wholly unjustified aggression. "You can either give us the kid," Faith of course wasn't inclined to either patience or diplomacy, "or we can take them and leave you with my foot in your mouth as a deposit on an ass-kicking as payment."

Oh boy, Angel groaned inwardly, he found it hard to believe that Faith had never received an UN Ambassadorship Xander spoke up before violence could erupt. "Look guys," Xander smiled as he walked between the two groups, apparently completely at ease. "You know who I am?" Xander chuckled. "I'm hardly gonna fake a torn out eye am I?"

"We know," admitted the black who thanks to his slab-like shoulders, Angel had dubbed 'Tank'.

"So you know we're about getting this sorted anyway we can, right?" The shaven-headed black nodded. "Good," Xander's smile widened. "Then let's look at what you know. You know we're the good guys, so you know we're not gonna hurt them." Angel winced inwardly at Xander's words. "You know that if we do take a kid off your hands, it's one less mouth to feed. And you know that the kid will help us save the world." Xander paused. "Now if that isn't compelling evidence to go along with us, I don't know what is."

The black's gaze bored holes into Xander for about ten second before brusquely nodding. "We got one kid, a Latino, mom died givin' birth on the night all this mess went down, she said the rugrat should be called 'Raymundo', said it was Spanish for king of the world." The black stared at Harris. "We'll let you take a look at the kid, and if he's okay with goin', you can take him, but he stays with us otherwise."

Angel forced down a scowl. That made things complicated, but he couldn't really blame the guy for having the basic humanity to leave the choice to the kid. Besides, Angel comforted himself, if it was prophesised to happen it would happen.

After a second Xander nodded. "If that's the deal I guess we can live with it."

"Damn straight," the black growled before looking towards his companions. "Keep an eye on them." The black disappeared behind the tatty curtain hung up at the basement's rear before returning with a Latino kid in his fireplug thick arms. "This is Raymundo."

"Hey," it was of course Faith who stepped forward, fearlessly taking the small boy into her arms, "how ya doin' honey?" Angel's heart sank at yet another display of earth-mother Faith. She was going to kill him when she found out what he was going to do.

Hell, Angel winced inwardly, he might just save her the trouble and do it himself.

A tear threatened to escape his eye as he listened into Faith's muttered assurances to the child and her heart-felt promise to look after him. Finally Faith glanced at Xander. "We're ready," the raven-maned Slayer declared.

"Okay," Xander nodded at the blacks, "thanks for your help."

"The kid," for the first time 'Tank' looked something more than the stone-faced warrior, "he's gonna be fine right?"

"We'll look after him," Xander half-grinned. "Faith's thinkin' of gettin' into the crèche business."

Faith glared at Xander as laughter rumbled through the darkened chamber. "You are so sleepin' on your own tonight asshole."

Angel grimaced as he led the others out into a still dark night, the chilly winds turned into lashing rain. "Now that we've got all the kids, how are we going to find the arc?" Kate queried.

"I've heard a rumour that Lorne's in New Jersey, Atlantic City to be exact," Angel replied. "I figure we go up there, get him to listen to us sing, see if he can pick up any hints from us." Of course, if he sang for Lorne, there was a risk that the demon would read what he really had planned, but that was just a chance he had to take.

"Lorne's the signing demon, right?" Xander asked.

"Lorne's bank, hon," Faith replied as she climbed into the back of the van. "Now, Raymundo, you wanna play with Rex and Aletta? You two," Faith glanced down at the other two toddlers playing in the back of the van, "this is Raymundo, play nice with him, 'kay?"

Yes, Angel's mood dropped still further, this wasn't gonna end well.

* * *

Angel snarled as he raced through the entrance, the door splintering under a single kick. His stomach hollowed as he looked around the wrecked room, broken furniture scattered throughout the otherwise tastefully decorated room, blood soaking the walls and floor rugs, his friend's mangled corpse lying in dismembered chunks.

How long had his friend been dead? It had taken them three days to track Lorne down, three damn days. If they'd found him quicker, maybe -.

"I can give you directions to the Arc."

"Whistler?" Angel snarled as he spun to face the crumpled-looking man stood in the hallway. "What happened to him?"

"Your friend was in a tough spot when hell broke loose," Whistler jammed his hands in his pockets as Angel loomed menacingly over him, "he kept working the demon clubs he normally worked at, doing his singing, but he kept one ear to the ground, so he could warn any humans he found when and where the demons were gonna raid. Only trouble was, someone found out about his double-agency and well, you saw."

"Who?" Angel growled, golden orbs flashing.

"Concern about someone else other than that piece of Slayer skirt?" Whistler smirked at him. "How you've grown."

"Yeah, you can congratulate me on my progress later," Angel snarled as he pressed his face scant inches from the demon's. "Now are you going to give me the information I want, or do I have to get creative?"

Whistler shook his head. "Angel, you have a mission-."

"He was my friend," Angel growled, hand sweeping up to knock the demon's fedora to the ground. "I want whoever did this to him."

"The emerald jester amused me," Illyria suddenly commented. "I would injure any who sought to balk us from our mission of vengeance."

"You need to get to -."

Angel's fist to the gut ended the conversation, doubling up the Balance Demon. "You need to give me the names of the people who killed Lorne," Angel grated. "Or I'll get to reminding you why other vampires were frightened of me."

"The Arc is at Golden Meadows, Iowa, just three and half miles north of the town of Indian's Fall," Whistler croaked.

"And," Illyria muscled past Angel, grabbed the balance demon by his throat, lifted him into the air and slammed him into the wall, "the emerald jester's killers?"

"I don't know who did it," Whistler wheezed as his face blued. "But I know where the gang who did it hang out, there's a demon hangout on Asbury Avenue, what used to be the Paradise Nightclub, the gang that runs the nightclub are the ones that found out about Lorne and ordered the hit."

"Then that's who dies," Angel decided.


End file.
